Glossary

As I mentioned in the introductory section, accessibility of all ideologies – but especially the ideologies perpetuated by the academy – is at the heart of this project. In an effort to bridge the divide between academics, their ideologies, and those outside of the academy, I am including a glossary of terms and concepts that will appear throughout this project that any of you not familiar with academia might not know, as well as common fan fiction terminology for those of you who do not engage in fandom. Each definition provided is something that I have defined in my own words in the most direct yet thorough manner possible. I am including the glossary at the beginning of the project as opposed to the end where you would typically find one to give readers access to the definitions before they fully immerse themselves within the project. I have also provided video explanations as an alternative way to learn about the concepts presented to allow those who may learn better through watching videos or listening to someone speak rather than reading from a screen.    

Academia – The term used when describing the academic world. When used within this project it is almost always referring specifically to English literature academia.

AFK – A slang term often used online that means “away from keyboard.”

AU – Fandom slang that means “alternate universe.” When a fic is marketed as an AU, it means that the setting within the fic is not the same source text they based the fan fiction on. For example, a fic that placed Kate and Sawyer from the television show, Lost, in upstate New York instead of the deserted tropical island where the show takes place would be an AU fic.

Canon (Fandom Definition) – This is the second definition of canon that will be present throughout this project, and it is the definition that is related to fandom. In fandom, canon pertains to the source text and its original plot, narrative, and relationships. To continue with the Lost analogy, Kate and Sawyer are two characters who are romantically involved for a good portion of the show, and any fic that features those two characters in any sort of romantic relationship would be known as canon compliant. Now, if there was a fic that had Sawyer romantically involved with Sun, that would not be canon compliant since that did not happen in the source text.

Canon (Literary Definition) – Canon will be used in two different ways within this project. One definition is associated with fandom while the other refers to the literary canon. The literary canon, which, at times, will be referred to as the canon within this project, is a social construction made decades ago by the most prominent authors and universities at the time of its conception. The canon has been criticized for largely being composed of white male authors. While improvements and additions have been made to include marginalized voices that were previously left out, the lingering effects of the canon’s original intentions continue to impact society, especially in our schools. Examples of popular canonical texts include “the classics” such as A Tale of Two Cities, A Catcher in the Rye, and anything by Shakespeare.

Cosplay – Performance and play are integral to fan identity and demonstrate the intermedial nature of fan texts. Cosplay is when fans dress up as their fan object, and this can be done on the individual and group levels. Comic Con is a wildly popular event where thousands of fans from innumerable fandoms and from all parts of the world gather each year and cosplay their fan object.

Discourse – A linguistic term used to describe specific language that is more than a single sentence. Discourse can be thought of as the current topics of conversation within a particular research field, concept, or genre.

Fandom – Fandom is the act of being a fan of something. In a broader sense, fandom can be used to refer to the field of fan studies, but it can also be used to identity a specific fan community as well. For example, I often say that the Twilight films are my comfort films because it was my first experience with fandom when I read the books as a pre-teen. This would make me part of the Twilight fandom.

Fan Fiction – Fan fiction can be thought of as a subgenre within fandom. It is fiction narratives written by fans that focuses on a certain fan object, like a character from a beloved tv show or book series, for example, and continues their story even after the fan object’s series has ended. Fan fiction is typically always posted for free on either a fan fiction server like Wattpad or A03, or on social media platforms like Instagram or Tumblr. Some fics have gone on to be traditionally published because of their borderline viral popularity on their original server.

Fan Object – The real-life person, fictional character, or franchise that a fan is devoted to, often the motivation behind who to cosplay or who fan fiction authors choose as their main characters in their fics.

Genre – Think of this as a fancy word for category. Books are often categorized and marketed based on the type of story within it. Some well-known examples of book genres are romance, horror, and science fiction, and the story itself will adhere to conventions or tropes of that particular genre. For example, horror novels would feature a story that has moments of gore or a main character that is experiencing a harrowing event.

Glitch Feminism – A subcategory of feminism introduced by American author, Legacy Russell, who published their manifesto on the topic in 2020. At its core, glitch feminism prioritizes resistance against rigid binaries and engendered social expectations and calls for a decentering of the hegemony when discussing issues pertaining to marginalized communities. Within this project, I will be drawing on Russell’s arguments on decentering the majority voice when advocating for marginalized communities and incorporating our online avatars into our AFK selves.

Headcanon – This is the fandom term for someone that is not canon compliant. If a fan shipped two people who were not together in the source text and created a fic that followed that same couple, that would be their headcanon since it is not something that is supported by the source material, but something that they came up with on their own inside their head.  

Hegemony – Used to describe the group or body in a position of power within the social order. Examples of well-known hegemonies include the patriarchal hegemony and literary hegemony. The hegemony in power will project their ideologies onto the subordinate classes and expect them to be followed.

Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs) – An intricate concept coined by French philosopher, Louis Althusser, that interrogates how ideologies transition from a belief someone holds, to something they practice in their daily lives, then into a ritual they participate in, and, eventually, into something that is reflected in someone’s actions. Essentially, Althusser is concerned with how certain ideological structures influence someone to act in a specific way based on which ones they prescribe to. Examples of ISAs that Althusser provides himself in his text are the family ISA and the educational ISA.

Ideology – An umbrella term for beliefs and ideas. Ideologies can be held consciously or unconsciously, and they often form a community of sorts with other people who prescribe to the same ideology. Our ideologies help us form our opinions on and shape our perceptions of the world and the social, political, and economic issues within it.

Intertextuality – When a genre is not limited to a specific medium or a written text. This is a central term in fan studies due to the fluid definition of a text within the field. Fan texts are not limited to written texts because of the large presence the media industry has within fan studies. Other types of text within the context of fan studies include, tv shows, movies, bodies, and performances like cosplay. Intermediality occurs when authors, readers, and fans alike are encouraged to express their ideas and identities using mediums other than a written text.

Narrative – This is another word for the story within a book or novel. It possesses its own structure that varies depending on both the author and the narrator – the one who is driving the story – and can be written in either first, second, or third person.

OTP – Fandom slang used to describe couples in fics that people believe are soulmates. Stands for “one true pairing.”

Pedagogy – In its simplest form, pedagogy is the practice of teaching. There are various types of pedagogy, but at its core, it is the art of educating paired with managing the classroom climate. Within this project pedagogy is often used to refer to the syllabi of college curriculums, drawing attention to what is being taught and for what reason.

Poststructuralism – An analytical approach towards literature that originated in France in the 1960s. Prominent poststructuralist theorists include Jacques Derrida and Julia Kristeva. Many poststructuralists drew attention to the inherent instability of language, especially the words that we use to describe things and how they came to be. Poststructuralism pushed back against the structuralist notion that language and the meanings we impart on it are a social construct, because structuralism implied that the human consciousness had no active role in meaning making. While this project will not travel too far into poststructuralism, it is important to note the influence it has had over fan studies.

Qualitative – A type of research that falls under the interpretive category. This type of research is what is seen in most scholarly articles within English literature academia, though some research projects – like this one – can be a mixed methods project. Qualitative interpretations of data often feature argumentative claims made by the author of the project and are mostly concerned with figuring out the why behind the collected data.

Quantitative – A type of research that is used in most scientific research that contains raw, empirical, and often numerical data. Those utilizing this type of research are not concerned with the why, but rather the what. Purely quantitative projects will not make any interpretive claims on the data and will only discuss what the data reflects. For example, if this project was only quantitative, I would not have inserted any argumentative claims on the data as it relates to my research questions on the research interests of English department faculty.

Reader-Response Theory – A theory concerned with the relationship between the text, the author, and the reader, with special attention given to the meaning the reader makes during the reading process. Wolfgang Iser is a prominent voice within this field, and his seminal text argues that readers create meanings by filling in the textual gaps created by the author. Readers will then fill in the blanks with their own experiences and beliefs to make their interpretation of the text.

Ship – Fandom slang that is used by people who like a particular couple together regardless of whether its canon or not. An example would be someone saying, “I love the show Lost. I really ship Kate and Sawyer. I want them to end up together.”

Transmedia Storytelling – Coined by American media scholar Henry Jenkins, is similar to intertextuality and can be thought of as an example of the potential of intertextuality as it relates to fan studies. Transmedia storytelling is when the same narrative is told across different mediums. A popular example of transmedia storytelling is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The narratives began as comics and transitioned to blockbuster movies or tv shows, while keeping the same story intact across the different media modes.

Tropes – While tropes are closely related to genre, tropes are common themes across novels within a genre and are not used to try and categorize a novel like genres are. Some of the same tropes used in a romance novel may be used in a fantasy novel and vice versa since they are not confined by genre. Tropes are used heavily within fandom, and fan fiction authors often use certain tropes as hashtags to promote their fic to those interested in reading stories that have their favorite tropes. Some examples of tropes are fake-dating, only one bed, marriage of convenience, and forced proximity.