Every month in OTW Signal we’ll take a look at stories that connect to the OTW’s mission and projects, including legal, technology, academic, fannish history, and preservation issues that are important for fandom, fan culture or transformative works.
In the News
Being a fan is a lifelong journey. An article from the University of Victoria’s community newspaper, The Ring, speaks of one particular student’s dedication to fandom.
Growing up with a love of the literary arts, Maya Wei Yan Linsley discovered a new facet of it in the form of fan studies during an Honours English course on literary criticism. Using long-form Harry Potter fanfiction as a case study, Linsley argues that audiences create fanfiction as a form of literary interpretation – making the original text into their own by means of transformative works.
Once it gets big enough, fandom becomes its own thing. The fandom context is much more important than the source material context.
Fan studies are often cited as one way fandom takes part in more general literary criticism, more specifically, cultural studies. One of the OTW’s contributions to the latter is Transformative Works and Cultures, a Diamond Open Access publication dedicated to the articles discussing fan community and transformative works.
Students at Ateneo de Manila University will be treated to a special elective course in P-pop, or Pinoy pop, courtesy of instructor and self-described fangirl Andrea Anne I. Trinidad and her supportive colleagues in the school’s Department of Filipino. Trinidad – herself once a literature student at the same university – hopes that alongside an in-depth exploration of P-pop, the course will nurture a sense of harmony in students who wish to blend fannish and other personal interests with their academic pursuits. She spoke with Billboard Philippines about her own instructors and the formative power of encouragement.
“These same people – who were once my college professors and are now my colleagues serving as my mentors – are the ones who would push me to submit publications on fandom and apply for grants so I could map out what Filipino fandom looks like,” she shares, revealing how their support paved the way to open up new spaces and opportunities in their department.
Trinidad’s love of P-pop group ALAMAT – who sing in seven Filipino languages and are themselves blazing a trail in the music scene of the Philippines – provided inspiration for the course. She explains why being a Magiliw (a fan of ALAMAT) is so meaningful to her and how P-pop fandom leads her scholarship home.
“The fan activities that have often influenced my academic life have always been foreign forms – from One Direction to Thai BL,” she shares, “Which is why, in my head, stanning ALAMAT is a homecoming. This course, which was again suggested by a colleague (our undergraduate coordinator Prof. Jethro Tenorio) is a part of that journey.”
If you’re keen to join the hype, check out this article from NYLON Manila on becoming a Magiliw!
OTW Tips
Archive of Our Own (AO3) has a brand new Gifts FAQ. Gifts used to be tucked away in the Your Account FAQ, but our AO3 Documentation team have brought it out of hiding and added a few more in-depth answers. If you’re looking for information about your AO3 History, you’ll also find an updated History and Mark for Later FAQ.
We want your suggestions for the next OTW Signal post! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or news story you think we should know about, send us a link. We are looking for content in all languages! Submitting a link doesn’t guarantee that it will be included in an OTW post, and inclusion of a link doesn’t mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.