Fathering the Cursed Child?

Gendered Authorship and “Fan” Fiction in Harry Potter

Anastasia Salter@anasalter

University of Central Florida

Labeling it 'fan fiction' means rejecting its ability to add to the textual universe. Fan

fictions represent the fictional universe but do not contribute to it...to call Rowling's

epilogue fan fiction is to suggest that it is only supplementary to the fictional universe.

Goodman, Lesley. "Disappointing Fans: Fandom, Fictional Theory, and the Death of the Author." The Journal of Popular Culture 48.4 (2015): 662-676.

Fanboy auteurs like Joss Whedon, Ronald D. Moore and Jack Snyder have redefined the

image of the male fan from the stereotypical loner who lives in his parents’ basement to a

powerful visionary in the entertainment industry.

Kohnen, Melanie. "‘The power of geek’: fandom as gendered commodity at Comic-Con." Creative Industries Journal 7.1 (2014): 75-78.

The emergence of the vast online Harry Potter fandom was an important sociocultural event showcasing the

ways in which youths are able to circumvent the restrictions to content adults aim to put in place. We

can certainly consider youth participation in the Harry Potter fandom and their clear interest, through the

cycle of production and consumption they created and enjoyed within that digital space, in non-

heteronormative narratives as transformative.

Duggan, Jennifer. "Revising Hegemonic Masculinity: Homosexuality, Masculinity, and Youth-Authored Harry Potter Fanfiction." Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature 55.2 (2017): 38-45.

The concept of the author holds more power than the individual figures attempting to wield it, and fans

attribute or deny the power of authorship to particular figures according to their public personas and cultural

politics. In this sense, fans may withhold or bestow legitimation through the operation of Foucault’s author-function, interpreting text and statements of authority

through the public persona of the author.

Fathallah, Judith. "‘Except that Joss Whedon is god’: fannish attitudes to statements of author/ity." International Journal of Cultural Studies 19.4 (2016): 459-476.

Following Rowling's bombshell, journalists and fans debated the "canonicity" of Dumbledore's homosexuality…Rebecca Traister, in Salon,

argued, "[Rowling's] pronouncements are robbing us of the chance to let our imagination take over where she left off, one of the great treats

of engaging with fictional narrative" (Traister). However, fans have always disregarded aspects of the books that are unequivocally

canonical if they interfere with the stories fans want to create, so Rowling's extratextual pronouncements pose few impediments to fans' imagination. But the question of how much influence an author has, or should have, over the interpretation of her text is of obvious relevance

to fandom, and fans were divided in their perceptions of Rowling's motives; some saw her as benignly supplying more information upon

direct fan request, while others saw a more sinister desire to control the interpretation of her books.

Tosenberger, Catherine. “’Oh my God, the Fanfiction!’: Dumbledore's Outing and the Online Harry Potter Fandom." Children's Literature Association Quarterly 33.2 (2008): 200-206.

Thank you!