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[goseaward]

Thought I'd link to an interesting essay by an English teacher who used Twilight fanfic as a unit in a (college) class, and why she did that, and why she found fanfic so interesting. (The whole blog is material derived from or inspired by that unit--I've found some of it interesting and some of it not, but it's still in my RSS reader, for what it's worth.)

Quote:

There are a staggering number and range of stories--just shy of 200,000 on fanfiction.net today. Reading all these different Edwards and Bellas in their different lives and traumas, in some ways distinctly characterized but identical in appearance, mannerisms, certain traits and relationship dynamics--and exhausting sex lives--all referring back to a single original source: it's a very different reading experience from any I'd had before. And since most of my life is spent reading or thinking or writing about reading, a new experience is a little extraordinary.

I still have not read Twilight, or any Twilight-associated fanfic, but I'm fascinated by the way it's leaking into the mainstream the way HP used to. Or maybe more than that. (Also I might have gone on a rant on tumblr about profiting from fanfic. Apparently this is my Year To Be Cranky About All Things, not just grad school. Definitely have the Cranky Elder-Statesman Grad Student thing down.)