Common fan fiction scenarios such as hurt/comfort and first-time perform cultural work that has been worked on before—be that negotiating discursive linkages between masculinity and violence, or appropriate expressions of intimacy between individuals of the same sex. In (the fanfic analysed in this paper), each scenario performs an explicit and formal queering of the canon text by drawing oblique lines of directionality. This opens up the narrative in ways that encourage—even proselytize—multiplicity by transforming moments of animosity and violence into opportunities for emotional and sexual intimacy. The result is a queering of gender norms, heteronormativity, and the very clear black and white distinctions of morality that serve as the foundation for the Harry Potter epic.
Hampton, Darlene Rose. 2015. “Bound Princes and Monogamy Warnings: Harry Potter, Slash, and Queer Performance in LiveJournal Communities.” In “Performance and Performativity in Fandom,” edited by Lucy Bennett and Paul J. Booth, special issue, Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 18. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2015.0609.
Queering by repetition in fandom