The distinction between romance and fan fiction is a headache for literary theorists and fans/romance writers alike. Of course, we all know they are different, but it’s sometimes hard to define how. Especially if we are forced to take commercialization out of the equation.
Katherine Morissey states: „(p)ast explorations of fan fiction as romance have often focused on the categories of het (male/female relationships) and slash (male/male) fan fiction. This work often either categorizes fan fiction as a type of romance writing (…).” She adds: ” (i)n scholarship on fan fiction, slash has often been framed as a kind of feminist and/or grassroots counter to a predominantly heterosexual mass-market romance (…).” She also talks about the different role of eroticism in the two – or at least how they are framed.
What are your experiences?
Morissey, Katherine. 2014. “Fifty Shades of remix: the intersecting pleasures of commercial and fan romances.” In Journal of Popular Romance Studies 1 (2014/4). http://jprstudies.org/2014/02/fifty-shades-of-remix-the-intersecting-pleasures-of-commercial-and-fan-romancesby-katherine-morrissey/
