the shadow the original content creator casts

[rthstewart]

So, I was going to post something exploring raykel's discussion earlier about adults playing with toys that are really intended for children. But before we do that, knitress wrote the following:

As someone who just stumbled into this, the whole ur doing it wrong thing seems very parallel to some of the debates in Lewis scholarship/'scholarship'/worship. Joy Gresham, Mrs. Moore, Lewis' lifelong friend Arthur Greeves.
I mean, if you're going to go on at huge length about what the original author would have wanted, shouldn't you, y'know, learn something about his actual life?

lady_songsmith and andi_horton have both said, oh yes, please share your reading list!

And so knitress has said she will post her reading list. This is an interesting exercise in a couple of respects.

• There are a lot of people in the Narnia fandom who assert that adhering to Lewis' intent is very important, so illuminating what Lewis did intend and separating that from what others think he intended is interesting. I know some of you know far more about Lewis' life and art than I do, so do share, if you are so inclined.
• Stepping back a few meters, some folks really like this sort of exercise at the more philosophical level -- who if anyone has the right to interpret something once it is freed into the wilds. Assuming we do understand the author and what he or she intended, what modicum of respect is owed the original creator? Or his or her designee or progeny? Gresham named Ramandu's Daughter Liliandil for the DT film. Rowling asked once that people not include underage sexual content in HP fic? Does any of that mean anything? Should it?
• Last, there is the frustration all authors feel when the reader doesn't get what you intended. Sometimes it's a flaw in the writing; sometimes though it probably doesn't matter how clear you are, right? The reader is going to take what the reader is going to take.

In response to the above, divining authorial intent isn't something I usually worry about. I take a plain language view to borrow from a canon of statutory construction -- if it's there on the page, literally or thematically, it's fair game.  I'm more interested in exploring what I and others think about their work, and the community that develops around that exploration then I am in understanding more of what the author thought about his or her work. People pull more than I intended out of my work all the time and frequently I have no greater intent than "Shiny! let's try that!" and "Gosh I love that line. Let me build 10,000 words to include it." Or, "fandom poke. poke. poke."

Admittedly, TSG Peter and I both share extreme ineptitude in the areas of philosophy, theology, and languages. Being a shallow sort, I do not usually ask the big questions. (Though when I told Clio that, she said that I may assert the absence of a rear view mirror and claim inability to think big thoughts but that's because I pour my philosophical musings into fic.)  I decline to speculate as that would call for introspection.

Comments

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

We started down this road a little bit before and now you all are developing it beautifully. To paraphrase from lady_songsmith who is also relying upon Doctor Dolly and linneasr, this particular fandom does have a high preponderance of membership that both trends younger and is philosophically inclined to accept and be very comfortable with arguments from authority. This may color how a segment interpret canon and the world in general and challenges to that authority are uncomfortable to deal with. (and really aren't any challenges to our world view uncomfortable to deal with?)

And folks, there's a scholarly article in here somewhere. Any takers? How those who are more likely culturally and psychologically to accept arguments from authority in real life are more likely to adhere to a conservative view of canonical construction in fanfiction?

On a side note, I joked in a Tweet that I'm not sure I'm smart enough for my own LJ. You all are really and truly amazing, not just in the obvious formal learning with the advanced degrees and teaching experience but in the ability to write and argue, and reflect.

[lady_songsmith]

Something for TWC? The thing is, in order to craft such an article in a resonsible fashion, you would have to develop and administer a test for how likely they are to respond to authority* as well as metrics for what constitutes 'canonical construction' and you'd have a hard sample to get: enough people willing to take the test who have written, reviewed, or otherwise expressed their views on fanfiction enough to constitute a solid body of evidence for analysis.

*My brain is still telling me there's a technical term for 'the measure of how well someone responds to authority' but it is unhelpfully refusing to cough up the word. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?