Narrative in the Digital Age: Fan Fiction - Essay Example

Narrative in the Digital Age Narrative in the Digital Age In the new era, there has emerged communities that surround themselves with a Tv show, a book or a movie where their common interests create fandoms. Within the fandoms, fan fiction writers, poets and artists exist where their works can be captured in LiveJournal communities, message boards or by people. Fan fiction writers are the most active people within a fandom whose work tends to be that of writing fan fiction about the characters of an original fiction work. Fan fiction can also include the setting of the original fictional work that is created by the fans of the fiction and not by the original creator. The original creator hardly commissions most fan fiction nor published professionally because they are mostly an infringement on the copyrights of the original author. The most basic assumption that fan fiction writers have when writing fan fiction is that other fans would be their audience. On the contrary, they write assuming that the readers of their work have knowledge pertaining to canon fiction. The Canon in canon fiction is the particular world a franchise is built on, which is mostly an imaginary one. With this overview, this essay will compare and contrast two fan fiction works from the Archive of Our Own website. The works of fiction shall be from the cartoons, comics and graphic novels as the source of the text, especially dwelling on Aladdin, the animated series. Focus will also be on explaining the diegetic gaps that these works attempt to fill and the techniques that they are using. The essay will also discuss how the fictional world of the source text is different and what the changes signify. The works of fan fiction to be compared are A Will as Strong by K_Maestrale and Knotted by Shini02. Comparison of the Two Fan Fictions Aladdin, the animated series is created by Walt Disney Television that was developed based on the folk tale of Arabs titled Aladdin and the magic lamp. The setting of the film is in Agrabah where Aladdin is a street rat living in this region with his monkey while Princess Jasmine lives a life of frustration. The Aladdin fandom does not have as many fans, but has a significant number of them who are fan fiction writers. The two authors provide an interesting twist to the Aladdin story as much as they use similar characters. The characters that are used by both K_Maestrale and Shini02 are Aladdin, Yasmin and Mozenrath. Another striking similarity that exists in both texts is the fact that Mozenrath and Aladdin have a deep affection for Yasmin and they try as much as possible to win her over. Shini02 (2015) writes from a futuristic perspective where Jasmine is dead, but she is a clone made by Mozenrath who has taken a new form. Mozenrath takes on the new form to win the affection of the Yasmin that he has created, who shares striking similarities with the Aladdin’s Jasmine that had died a while back. Shini02 writes about how Aladdin sees Yasmin walking on the streets and feels attracted to her beauty. In K_Maestrale’s fan fiction, Mozenrath uses his cunning wit and magic to draw Jasmine to him. In both fan fiction texts, Mozenrath is pushed by his loneliness to seek the company of Jasmine at all costs. Both authors include elements of sex in their writing both being on Jasmine where Shini02 indicates that Yasmin had sexual relations with Aladdin. K_Maestrale on the other hand, indicates that Mozenrath made sexual advances at Jasmine regardless of the fact that she is betrothed to Aladdin and is still a virgin. On the contrary, there are also elements of magic used by both authors in an attempt to make their fan fictions to be interesting to the reader. In the original work of fiction, magic was dominant in the Aladdin animated series and both of these authors understand this too well. Shini02 (2015) writes that there is a flying carpet that Aladdin uses as his preferred transportation method. Aladdin’s genie in this fan fiction also uses magic to allow Aladdin to gain entry into Raza Mohsin’s house, which is Mozanreth’s. In essence, these two authors are able to maintain most of the themes and events that are contained in the original fiction although they give a twist to them. Contrasts of the Two Fan Fictions Other than the two fan fictions being set in Agrabah, the timelines of the two are quite different with Shini02’s fan fiction being futuristic while K_Maestrale’s setting is in the past. Essentially, Aladdin in Shini02’s story wears a T-shirt and pair of jeans which are quite different from what Aladdin wears in the original fiction. Aladdin wears a purple vest and baggy white pants in the original work of fiction. Since K_Maestrale’s fan fiction setting is a time similar to that of the original fiction, it would be safe to expect Aladdin to appear in a purple vest and white baggy pants. Another striking contrast between the two fan fictions is that Shini02’s story has elements of science as the author writes that Mozenrath clones Jasmine. Mozenrath clones her that he may have his own Jasmine that he was not allowed to have in the past. Mozenrath in K_Maestrale’s fan fiction decides to change himself using magic to a frail young girl so as to grab the attention of Jasmine, who would not grant him an audience in his true self. The intent by Mozenrath is to kidnap Jasmine when she falls into his trap, then makes her develop affection for him. The other difference between the two fan fictions is that K_Maestrale (2015) presents Jasmine as a royal princess and daughter of the Sultan while Shini02 illustrates Yasmin as an ordinary citizen. Shini02 illustrates Yasmin to be an ordinary citizen, which allows her to walk freely in the streets of Agrabah. Essentially, this becomes an advantage to Yasmin and Mozenrath because they do not attract much attention from the public (Shini02, 2015). The other author makes Jasmine be a princess who is of interest to the public and taking her against her will would be challenging. As much as she disguises herself in covered clothing, Mozenrath finds it hard to kidnap her from the crowd and opts to trick her because she could not go with him out of consent. Shini02 illustrates Yasmine as a free woman who is allowed to engage in her activities as much as she belonged to her. K_Maestrale (2015) shows that Jasmine has been taken captive by Mozenrath once she has been tricked by him, which is an obvious contrast. The different approaches used by these authors make their fan fiction to be more intriguing as much as they are different from the original fiction. Diegetic Gaps Filled by These Works The fan fictions by Shini02 and K_Maestrale are both narrated from an outside view, which is what diegesis means. Both narrators seem to be all knowing because they both help the reader to understand and follow the events in the story with relative ease. K_Maestrale (2015) uses diegetic in his fan fiction by allowing Mozenrath to drift back to his past experiences when he faces situations that are almost similar. For instance, he recounts how as an apprentice to Destane, he used to be whipped when he did not follow the instructions given to him. Mozenrath recounts this when he tells Jasmine that she should follow what he says if she does not want to get hurt, but Jasmine does not oblige, which forces him to tighten her shackles. In Shini02’s fan fiction, the author attempts to fill the diegetic gap by giving detailed expressions that Aladdin had, which helps in capturing his emotions at that moment. For example, the author writes, “… Aladdin quips after a moment, the smiling twisting into a half-hearted grin...”, which helps in bringing out the humour that Aladdin and the Genie were having at that moment. Techniques Used by the Authors In Knotted, the author uses the dialogue technique, which helps the reader to follow through the events in the fan fiction. In addition, the use of dialogue makes the characters come alive and helps the reader to visualize the characters and what they are doing. The author also uses the descriptive writing technique in which he describes in details about the facial expressions of the characters and the locations that they are in (Jones & Magill, 2015). The detailing makes the story more interesting because it helps in grabbing the attention of the reader. In the A Will as Strong fan fiction, the author also uses dialogue in Mozenrath’s flashbacks, which help in highlighting what he went through in the past that made him be what he was at that time. The dialogue is also used by the author to express the emotions and intent of the characters where it is clear that Mozenrath has sexual desire for Jasmine. Flashbacks are also used by this author to illustrate to the reader the life of Mozenrath that influenced him to be the man that he is the fan fiction. The other technique used in this fan fiction is the use of modest language to illustrate the sexual advances that Mozenrath makes on Jasmine so as to avoid being too obscene. The same is used by Shini02 to communicate the sexual scene where Aladdin becomes intimate with Jasmine. The Changes in the Fictional World of the Text Source and their Significance The fictional world created by these authors is quite different from that of the original fiction, especially in terms of the sexual scenes that are otherwise not included in the original Aladdin. Essentially, the fictional world created by the two authors target adults, meaning that these fan fictions are not suitable for children. The significance of this is that the fan fictions’, based on their twists are for a mature audience, which broadens the fandom. The other change that Shini02 presents is that the Aladdin series can have an adoption within the current times so as to have elements that people in the present can relate to. In essence, this is through the way of dressing that the author chooses to use for his characters, which are a T-shirt and a pair of jeans for Aladdin and a suit for Raza (Mozenrath). Therefore, this makes Shini02’s fan fiction to be current and much more intriguing, which can attract more fans. Both fictional worlds that exist in these two fan fictions are different, but most of the elements used have a connection to the original fiction. References Jones, M. & Magill, H. (2015). Writing Skills for students: Teacher’s Guide to Teach Writing in Middle School. Comet Content Providers. K_Maestrale. (2014). As Will as Strong. Archive of Our Own.com. Retrieved on 28 June 2015 from http://archiveofourown.org/works/2614223/chapters/5834438?view_adult=true Shini02. (2015). Knotted. Archive of Our Own.com. Retrieved on 28 June 2015 from http://archiveofourown.org/works/3745468 Read More