Could the decline of your anti-fanfic stance be hastened by the promise of Gauvain/Yvain slash, should I ever manage to write it instead of as a completely legitimate exercise in close reading related to my Yvain paper?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Also, I've found that the best and so far only way to understand medieval literature, both in terms of the way authors used it to comment on the issues of their time and in terms of the medieval understanding of literary originality, is to think of it as fanfic and apply all the fanfic-related theory I've picked up in fandom. It works very well, as long as you keep in mind that unlike modern media fandoms, medieval literature didn't always refer back to a single, authoritative "canon" version of its subject matter.
I even said as much to my medieval French lit professor earlier this year... I think it was lost on her, though.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2008-06-05 03:01 pm (UTC)instead ofas a completely legitimate exercise in close reading related to my Yvain paper?Inquiring minds want to know.
Also, I've found that the best and so far only way to understand medieval literature, both in terms of the way authors used it to comment on the issues of their time and in terms of the medieval understanding of literary originality, is to think of it as fanfic and apply all the fanfic-related theory I've picked up in fandom. It works very well, as long as you keep in mind that unlike modern media fandoms, medieval literature didn't always refer back to a single, authoritative "canon" version of its subject matter.
I even said as much to my medieval French lit professor earlier this year... I think it was lost on her, though.