Tumblr crosspost (19 February 2021)

[anghraine]

There’s a lot I hate about the wank discussion around “early modern authors wrote fanfic, too!!!” But people using the most renowned early modern writers and the worst of fanfic as equally representative for their pearl-clutching screeds is such a dishonest maneuver. Ugh.

(There is a discussion to be had about extending “fanfic” beyond 20th/21st century fan culture, but that sure as hell isn’t it.)

Tagged: #a) plenty of early modern literature was bad and using only the most ~elite for purposes of comparison is actively dishonest #b) the sneering almost never defines what fanfic even is or why highly derivative early modern fiction is different

[ETA 5/14/2024: heh, the tags are basically a primordial version of this longer and more detailed post I finally broke down and made less than a month ago.]