CHLA 2017

1. Fathering the Cursed
Child?
Gendered Authorship and “Fan” Fiction in
Harry Potter
Anastasia Salter
@anasalter
niversity of Central Florida

8. Labeling it 'fan fiction' means rejecting its
ability to add to the textual universe. Fan
fictions represent the fictional universe but
do not contribute to it...to call Rowling's
epilogue fan fiction is to suggest that it is only
supplementary to the fictional universe.
Goodman, Lesley. "Disappointing Fans: Fandom, Fictional Theory, and the Death of
the Author." The Journal of Popular Culture 48.4 (2015): 662-676.

13. Fanboy auteurs like Joss Whedon, Ronald D.
Moore and Jack Snyder have redefined the
image of the male fan from the stereotypical
loner who lives in his parents’ basement to a
powerful visionary in the entertainment
industry.
Kohnen, Melanie. "‘The power of geek’: fandom as gendered commodity at Comic-
Con." Creative Industries Journal 7.1 (2014): 75-78.

16. The emergence of the vast online Harry Potter fandom
was an important sociocultural event showcasing the
ways in which youths are able to circumvent the
restrictions to content adults aim to put in place. We
can certainly consider youth participation in the Harry
Potter fandom and their clear interest, through the
cycle of production and consumption they created and
enjoyed within that digital space, in non-
heteronormative narratives as transformative.
Duggan, Jennifer. "Revising Hegemonic Masculinity: Homosexuality, Masculinity,
and Youth-Authored Harry Potter Fanfiction." Bookbird: A Journal of International
Children's Literature 55.2 (2017): 38-45.

20. The concept of the author holds more power than the
individual figures attempting to wield it, and fans
attribute or deny the power of authorship to particular
figures according to their public personas and cultural
politics. In this sense, fans may withhold or bestow
legitimation through the operation of Foucault’s author-
function, interpreting text and statements of authority
through the public persona of the author.
Fathallah, Judith. "‘Except that Joss Whedon is god’: fannish attitudes to statements
of author/ity." International Journal of Cultural Studies 19.4 (2016): 459-476.

23. Following Rowling's bombshell, journalists and fans debated the
"canonicity" of Dumbledore's homosexuality…Rebecca Traister, in Salon,
argued, "[Rowling's] pronouncements are robbing us of the chance to
let our imagination take over where she left off, one of the great treats
of engaging with fictional narrative" (Traister). However, fans have
always disregarded aspects of the books that are unequivocally
canonical if they interfere with the stories fans want to create, so
Rowling's extratextual pronouncements pose few impediments to fans'
imagination. But the question of how much influence an author has, or
should have, over the interpretation of her text is of obvious relevance
to fandom, and fans were divided in their perceptions of Rowling's
motives; some saw her as benignly supplying more information upon
direct fan request, while others saw a more sinister desire to control the
interpretation of her books.
Tosenberger, Catherine. “’Oh my God, the Fanfiction!’: Dumbledore's Outing and
the Online Harry Potter Fandom." Children's Literature Association Quarterly 33.2
(2008): 200-206.

25. Thank you!