Today is the last official fanfiction research update. I will probably talk more about my research in future updates, but they will no longer be numbered! You can also expect me to blog about my adventures as a teacher's assistant next semester. This is also the announcement of a hiatus from blogging. I will be taking a break until the semester starts. Expect updates to resume September 3rd. Follow us on Facebook for updates.
Tomorrow I will be submitting my final research update to the collaborative research organizers, along with an abstract for NCUR (National Conference for Undergraduate Research). At the end of the summer seminar each student submits a draft of an abstract. The hope is that student's will be able to submit these abstracts to NCUR. Last year NCUR was a good experience for me, and I hope to attend again.
One of the skills I learned over this summer seminar is the ability to write a good abstract. It is an acquired skill, and abstracts can be difficult to write. I've also learned to peer-review the abstracts of others, so I hope to be able to pass these skills on.
You may remember a few weeks ago when I talked about chromatic recasting. Fans recast characters in popular media as actors and actresses of color. This can be seen as similar to recasting predominately male characters as female (as in genderswap). I began to wonder if fans also created works that empowered people of different body types. In general, popular media portrays people of very similar body types. Surely there was something for fans that was different?
Well, there is. Fans of The Avengers series can enjoy The Adventures of Fatty Thor.
With the tagline, "Real Vikings are fat and fabulous," this website recasts Thor. The cos-player who plays him is playing to "fanon" (fan-canon). And it's amazing.
I will continue my research into genderswap, now armed with the knowledge that fans are doing much more than simply re-casting gender. For some, it is important to see others who are similar to them. For others, genderswap is unremarkable. It is simply another genre in a patchwork of fanfiction genres.
Tomorrow I will be submitting my final research update to the collaborative research organizers, along with an abstract for NCUR (National Conference for Undergraduate Research). At the end of the summer seminar each student submits a draft of an abstract. The hope is that student's will be able to submit these abstracts to NCUR. Last year NCUR was a good experience for me, and I hope to attend again.
One of the skills I learned over this summer seminar is the ability to write a good abstract. It is an acquired skill, and abstracts can be difficult to write. I've also learned to peer-review the abstracts of others, so I hope to be able to pass these skills on.
You may remember a few weeks ago when I talked about chromatic recasting. Fans recast characters in popular media as actors and actresses of color. This can be seen as similar to recasting predominately male characters as female (as in genderswap). I began to wonder if fans also created works that empowered people of different body types. In general, popular media portrays people of very similar body types. Surely there was something for fans that was different?
Well, there is. Fans of The Avengers series can enjoy The Adventures of Fatty Thor.
 |
| And he is "adorbs!" |
I will continue my research into genderswap, now armed with the knowledge that fans are doing much more than simply re-casting gender. For some, it is important to see others who are similar to them. For others, genderswap is unremarkable. It is simply another genre in a patchwork of fanfiction genres.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Write your comment here! Comments may take up to a day to appear.