Call for Papers

Distraction invites submissions on any aspect of fanfiction from all disciplines and fandoms.

Themes & Topics

Fanfiction studies is a new field, and the array of potential subjects is wide. A broad but by no means all-inclusive list of topics can be found below. That said, we are especially interested in studies of the texts themselves, both as literary works and in their relationship to the source materials that inspired them.

We encourage articles that address fanfiction's wider cultural implications as well as those that focus on fanfic in one or more fandoms. Papers on the source material (books, television series, films, comic books, manga, etc.) or on other aspects of fandom (e.g. fan communities, fan art, vidding) will also be considered, so long as significant attention is paid to fanfiction.

Submitting Articles

Completed articles of 3,000-8,000 words should be sent as an attachment to editors [at] fanfiction-studies.net. If you are having trouble sending a file or if you have not heard back from us, please write to our new alternate email: fanfiction.studies [at] gmail.com.

Articles should be sent by April 30, 2006 to be considered for inclusion in the first issue and will be reviewed before acceptance. MLA style is preferred, but any recognized referencing system may be used.

Please see our Submission Guidelines for more details.

Special Section: Introductions

We invite you to submit papers describing the fan fiction of a particular fandom. These overviews are intended to help introduce readers to fan fiction in a fandom with which they are unfamiliar. You may want to discuss popular "fanon" interpretations, common pairings, recurring themes, and what it is about the source material that seems to spark the writers' imaginations. Several of these introductions will be included in each issue in a special section.

Topics include but are by no means limited to:

Textual Analyses

• Fanon vs. canon (e.g. characterization, plot, theme, pairings, innovations)
• Literary devices
• Epigraphs & titles
• Language and conversation
• Mythology
• Specific comparisons to works of literature

Fanfiction Phenomena & Genres

• Poetry
• Songfics
• Filk
• Drabbles and ficlets
• Novel-length stories
• Works in progress
• Original characters and Mary Sues (self-insertion)
• Slash/Yaoi
• Femmeslash/Femslash/Yuri
• Hurt-comfort
• Angst
• First-time stories
• Parodies & humor
• Body-switching
• Babyfic, pregnancy and male pregnancy (MPREG)
• Crossovers
• Challenges
• "Real person" fan fiction (RPF) / real person slash (RPS)
• Doujinshi and comics
• Alternate Universe fic (e.g. examinations of a point at which fanfiction routinely diverges from its source)

Gender & Sexuality

• Depictions of masculinity and femininity
• Homo-/hetero-/bi-sexualization in fanfiction of a character who displays a different or ambiguous sexuality in canon
• The language of love and sex
• Love and possession
• Sexual "deviance" (BDSM, rape, chanslash, abduction, abuse, incest, bestiality, necrophilia)
• Love triangles
• Autumn/spring and teacher/student relationships

The Alien & Supernatural

• Extraterrestrials and supernatural creatures in fanfiction
• Literal and metaphorical vampirism
• Space, the future, alternative universes and other fantastical settings
• Time travel
• Relationships between living humans and aliens, ghosts, demons, and other characters which cannot be defined as either human or animal.

Fandom & Community

• Fan fiction archives
• LiveJournals & other fanfiction blogging communities
• Mailing lists
• Fanzines
• Beta reading
• Feedback
• Fanfiction author/reader relationships
• Challenges and fests
• Use of illustrations/fan art

Fan Fiction & the Law

• Copyright issues
• Plagiarism
• Officially-sanctioned fanfiction
• Authors'/creators' responses to fanfiction of their work
• Fan fiction by published authors
• Novelizations and film, television and theater adaptations as fan fiction

Fan Fiction & Education

Fan Fiction in the Mass Media

Fan Fiction & Culture

• Demographic & statistical studies
• Fanfiction in different cultures, countries and languages

Other Topics

• Rare fandoms
• Fanfic taboo
• Episodic/serial source material
• Effect of film/television adaptations on fan fiction for a literary source material
• "Modern" fanfiction (1960's through the Internet age)
• Fan fiction for early- and pre-20th century sources
• Fan fiction throughout history
• Male fanfiction authors

Is there a subject missing that interests you? Suggest a topic and we'll add it to the list.