First, the brainy and still making my head spin around with the ideas: from the brand new Jewish Review of Books. The author, Michael Weingrad, examines why there is no Jewish fantasy author on par with Tolkein and Lewis, particularly given the depth and history of Jewish mysticism.
His answers and ideas are so thoughtful and interesting I am still pondering, and I had to share. If you’re a fantasy or science fiction fan, this article looks at the genres from allegorical perspectives, and draws some conclusions as to why Jewish writers number very few among the fantasy genre:
Some readers may have already expressed surprise at my assertion that Jews do not write fantasy literature. Haven’t modern Jewish writers, from Kafka and Bruno Schulz to Isaac Bashevis Singer and Cynthia Ozick, written about ghosts, demons, magic, and metamorphoses? But the supernatural does not itself define fantasy literature, which is a more specific genre. It emerged in Victorian England, and its origins are best understood as one of a number of cultural salvage projects that occurred in an era when modern materialism and Darwinism seemed to drive religious faith from the field. Religion’s capacity for wonder found a haven in fantasy literature….
To put it crudely, if Christianity is a fantasy religion, then Judaism is a science fiction religion. If the former is individualistic, magical, and salvationist, the latter is collective, technical, and this-worldly. Judaism’s divine drama is connected with a specific people in a specific place within a specific history. Its halakhic core is not, I think, convincingly represented in fantasy allegory. In its rabbinic elaboration, even the messianic idea is shorn of its mythic and apocalyptic potential. Whereas fantasy grows naturally out of Christian soil, Judaism’s more adamant separation from myth and magic render classic elements of the fantasy genre undeveloped or suspect in the Jewish imaginative tradition. Let us take two central examples: the magical world and the idea of evil.
Christianity has a much more vivid memory and even appreciation of the pagan worlds which preceded it than does Judaism.
If you like a little analysis, comparative religion and discussion of world building and fantastic allegory with your coffee, enjoy that. I’m still pondering and would love to hear what you think.
From the brainful to the bodaciously awesome, we have one link containing a whollle lot of awesome: bid early, bid often in the 2010 Brenda Novak Diabetes Auction. Bid Early, Bid Often. I have one item up for bid, an author interview that may or may not create a lifetime of minty-fresh breath.
And finally: brainful, bodaciously awesome, and… Bwuhr? Everything I need to know about the internet, I learned from Fandom Wank. Today’s lesson, fanfic!
Fanfic is a hot topic, and no, not the kind where you shop for really tiny t shirts and shorts that require a bikini wax. Some authors hate it, some loathe it, and Diana Gabaldon wants to set it on fire. I much prefer , which uses Creative Commons licenses to delineate what belongs to whom and wherefore and why and whatnot.
LauraBryannan wisely states in the thread that, “If something is popular, there will be a fandom created for it.” Is this the wrong time to confess I totally wrote Archie/Betty fanfic based on Archie comics? Probably. I can’t believe he ended up with Veronica. I think I might have to go find that middle school notebook of mine.
Either that, or I need some hot Jewish fantasy fanfic, like, Right Now. Who’s in?
P.S.: I totally agree with this sentiment, by the way. Once you send it out there, people will do what they will. As long as it isn’t piracy, you need to just shut up and deal.
@Laurel
No, not really.
Look, I’ve been there, okay? Someone was following a (finished) work I was releasing in parts, and she kept ‘predicting’ what the next thing to happen would be (and she was wrong each time). I felt very strongly she was trying to change and direct the story, and it got up my nose. But did she have no right to do this? Was she being disrespectful? No. Annoying, yes, because she was doing it right in my face, but that was the only problem I had with it.
Would I get annoyed if someone turned my Kei or Arman into Jesus-quoting homophobes? Yes. But I can guarantee my readers would be the ones to strenuously argue with them over the interpretation. I would just whine privately to my friends and let natural selection sort it out. That’s what happens when someone gets too weird with canon characters – it’s other fans who argue the toss. And that’s how it should be. The author needs to butt out.
There is no disrespect when a reader interprets a character according to their own belief system, and it’s up to that reader’s prospective audience to decide if she’s made a case for ‘her’ interpretation. Yes, the interpretation might look whacky, or be offensive to most reasonable people, but the reader/consumer of the work has the right to their interpretation absolutely without qualification. Copyright law will in some cases restrict what she can do with that interpretation, but ‘respect’ isn’t relevant, or an issue.
Disrespect is sending your fanfic to the original creator when they haven’t invited it, or showing your fan art to actors who haven’t shown an interest in it. Simply creating fanfic or fanart isn’t disrespectful, immoral or theft.
Gabaldon is wrong in her attitude, and I believe, so are you.
Ann said:
That’s kind of ironic, because I agree with you about Gabaldon and I pretty much agree with what you’re saying. I just felt like you came down a little hard on Jami, who I don’t think is in left field, either.
So, cheers, dears! No hard feelings on my end, okay?
@Laurel
Of course, and none at all on mine.
Ann wrote (over the course of several posts):
*applause*
If it weren’t 11:50 pm and if I didn’t have to get up in 5 hours and 40 minutes—yeah, I should have gone to bed an hour ago—I’d probably expound on that. However, I’m tired and I don’t trust myself to play nice, so I’ll just leave it at a show of approval for your wonderful explanation of the mutability of the interpretation of any artistic [removed]yes, even the written word). Brava!
(And no, I absolutely don’t think you were too harsh.)
Yeah, I definitely don’t get Diana Gabaldon’s hardliner stance on fanfic. Seriously, lady, people like your work enough to write stories about it. Take that, and be flattered. Look at Jo Rowling, (as already mentioned), Jim Butcher, and Joss Whedon, who have all expressed pleasure with fanfiction written of their works. Is a lot of fanfic bad? Yes0- like any other artistic work, fanfic is subject to Sturgeon’s Law! But a lot of published work is terrible, too, and you don’t hear someone saying how bad published work is like pedophila. Frankly, I think her stance is really insulting to her fans, and she lost me A LOT of respect with it. I’ve always enjoyed her books, but someone who is callous enough to compare the things as horrible and lifeshattering as white slavery (or any kind of slavery) and pedophelia to something as innocuous as fanfiction pretty much loses any respect I might have had for them. Way to minimize and trivialize the experiences of those who have actually gone through those things- some things should never be used in metaphors, and those are two of them. Thanks, Ms. Gabaldon, for joining Anne Rice, Laurell Hamilton, and Anne McCaffery on the list of authors who I can no longer read or respect because they act like such assholes to the fans who support them and care about their characters. You know, as much sex as you have in your books, and as many horrible things as you do to your characters, you really don’t have a right to be griping about fanfic- because I really don’t see how anything a fanfic writer does could be more porn-tastic or nastier to the characters than what you’ve already done in canon. Stop clutching your pearls and get with the world today. No one is forcing you to read the fanfic, madam. If it bothers you that much, DON’T LOOK AT IT! I don’t like slashfic (with a few exceptions), so I don’t read them. I’m sure people who don’t like hetfic don’t read them, either. Is it any different from saying “Oh, I don’t particularly care for X show, so I don’t watch it!”? No, it is not. So, just as I would tell someone bitching about a particular show to turn off the TV or change the channel, I’ll tell Ms. Gabaldon to avoid sites that have Outlander fanfic. It’s called the back button, dear. You simply click it and never go to that site again if you see something you don’t like! It’s a radical invention, but I’m sure someone as smart as yourself can figure out how to use it.
I just wanted to say I’ve really enjoyed the links and paragraphs and debates about the No Jewish Narnia link.
Ziggy: Eww, Reggie/Betty? Mind, I don’t really think Archie deserves her either, but Reggie was such an ass. 🙂
Like Tina C. said, *applause*
This is why one person isn’t in charge of what is okay and what isn’t, since Spock/Kirk slash had subtext in canon. (Perfect example here. On the ho yay continuum, they’re one of the more agreed upon ones.) So am I not allowed to have S/K slash because it goes against what the author intended or what you say the author intended?
(Jut to clarify I’m not arguing any fanfic should have to stay in the parameters the author originally made, but that even the parameters are debatable over “sure things”.)
You know, that’s an argument people say about romance. Usually people who’ve never read a romance. Though according to someone up-thread she doesn’t think much of romance either, so maybe she can work on deleting that next. Then again she’ll be losing a lot of fans…
What the heck??? That [removed] word was “expression”. What on earth happened there?
Tina – that [removed] is really, really weird. I have no idea what’s up with that. I’ll look into it.
Also: you guys rock. All y’all.
@Ann –
Actually I think the movie sucked because of this. And also the semi-steampunking. Either go all the way, or don’t steampunk at all. Plus, while Robert’s a good actor, they should’ve casted someone who’s actually English to play Holmes.
Sorry, but I feel very strongly about this.
Back when I thought I could write I was involved with a group that was trying to launch a comic book company. One of the editors hired to do my books tried to change the locations from California to New York, make my lesbian character straight, change the bad guy, etc. I was SO angry because he totally changed everything and made my work completely unrecognizable. Why? Because “New York settings sell better then California ones” and the rest just because he didn’t like it. So yeah, I totally sympathize with authors who hate it when fan fiction turns their babies into something they never intended.
If anyone doesn’t like it, too bad. Just because you disagree with my feelings doesn’t make them any less valid.
JamiSings: I don’t think your feelings aren’t valid. I’d personally hate if someone took a character I worked years on and turned them into, say a raping scumbag. But they have the right to do that, just like I have the right a. not to read it and b. not to write it.
@Jami Sings
I appreciate that you feel strongly about this issue, but you are not comparing like with like. In your case, you are describing someone directly interfering with your original expression. Fanfiction doesn’t do that because the original expression has to happen before fanfiction even occurs.
No one is going to Diana Gabaldon and other authors and saying, sorry, you can’t write your books how you want to because some teenage fanfiction author in Upper Bumfuck, Queensland, wants to write sparkly unicorn mpreg with your characters. Ironically, authors like Gabaldon are sometimes forced to alter elements of their creative vision by their editors for marketing purposes – but you never hear them complaining about that being a violation, theft, rape, or like someone pinching your roses, do you?
@Matthew J Brown
Hurray, more Kencyr books! Thanks for the heads up.
I just saw the movie last weekend, and I loved it. The relationship and the inventions all worked for me, it was smooth, and not a thing jarred me out of the story. It actually has inspired me to watch Iron Man (up for this weekend) because Downey impressed me so much.
People and tastes, oh how they vary.
It actually has inspired me to watch Iron Man (up for this weekend) because Downey impressed me so much.
Me too! I watched Sherlock and said “Damn he’s aging well! When did he get so sexy?” And the Hub said something like “shut up” but I wasn’t paying attention cause RDJ has gotten seriously hot…
As far as fanfiction goes….I totally look forward to the day when I can be a published author with fanfics about her characters. I guess I’m biased because I started out writing fanfics and every so often when I need a break from my original stuff I pop off a fic.
I understand if an author says “please don’t write fanfiction of my stuff.” That’s their right. But…you need to say it politely.
ha. True Story: I started reading the Smart Bitches blog about a year(?) ago in dire hopes that I’d be able to find some published romance novels that I’d find as satisfying as the fanfic I’ve been enjoying for a decade now. Your blog is awesome. However, I’ve been… only minorly successful. Sorry to say, but fanfic writers often give me less creepy gender dynamics and they can explore things that The Corporate Overlords won’t sign off on. And I honestly cannot be made to care much about the HEA of 2 people who apparently fell in love 150 pages in (or sooner!). Now, gimme tons of plot & character interaction prior to falling in love (maybe hook them up after 3 books) and then give me a permanent HEA—and I will enjoy that as much as any fanfic. (of course there’s tons of trash fanfic too, but no one puts a gun to your head and makes you read things you don’t want to on the internet.)
My general response to this entire argument is simple: You submitted something to pop culture. You now no longer own it—screw legalities, let’s talk reality: there is no Thought Control Police. Your creation now lives in the general public’s brains, and they will do craaaaazy stuff with it. Because people are weird, and fun, and interesting.
If you don’t want people thinking about your words, DON’T SHARE THEM. Write that novel, film that movie, and then keep your stories in a drawer, and enjoy them privately. Be amazed what you created, and hug it to your chest in secret joy. If you do that, then no one has the right to these thoughts but you. They will never be appreciated by the outside world, or discussed, but they will also never be misinterpreted or changed. No one makes you put it out there. That’s your choice. This choice will have the consequences. If you can’t handle the mess, stay out of the kitchen. Leave all the money and fame to someone who can handle the messy stuff that comes with it.
I do not feel bad for you. There are thousands of struggling artists who are dying to take your place, and would allow an avalanche of gratuitious character deaths & hardcore pornography using their creations (including bonus necrophilia!) in a heartbeat for a chance to get their stories sold and beloved by the masses.