lewis%Shasta@spider.UUCP (02/03/84)
I believe that ALL the hexes in Jack Chalker's Well World series are named
after SF people, writers, artists and fans.
Another Roman a Clef is Rocket to the Morgue. It is borderline SF, also
by Tucker (as Wilson Tucker - I think his full name is Robert Wilson Tucker,
hence Bob Tucker to his friends and fandom and Wilson Tucker to his readers
and publishers). The key to this novel (roman a clef means novel with a key,
in the sense that a cipher has a key) is the descendents, publishers and
fans of Arthur Conan Doyle. I think it was first published in the 50's.
Fan fiction does not, however, mean a roman a clef. It merely means a
piece of fiction by a fan, usually published in a fanzine without more
than nominal recommpense. There is lots of excellent Trek fan fiction,
for instance that mundane publishers will probably never touch because
it has too much character development (even if the sex is left out...)
on the other hand, commercially published fiction by fans is not usually
referred to a fan fiction. After all, by being commercially published
it has, paradoxically, become "real" fiction or even mundane fiction!
Now, is the Starblaze books by Bjo about her 10 Years involved with
Trek fan writing because it is ABOUT fans? (It is non-fiction...)
A purist would say: no. It is about but not within fandom because it
was published by a commercial publisher for the world at large rather
that by a fan publisher for an audience within fandom.
The adjective "FAN" is comparatively restrictive. It means not merely
having to do with lovers and/or readers of SF. It means within the
subculture of FANDOM. Its antithesis, non-fan or mundane is not purely
pejorative, since any person can become a fan by attending a few cons
and/or reading a few fanzines. (I suspect subscribing to LOCUS no
longer counts as LOCUS has become a profit making -just barely- concern
and thus no longer TRULY FANNISH)
A few words are in order about "faanish" or "faaanish" a word that becomes
more emphatic as "a"s are added to the middle. It describes the more
fanatic and exclusive involvement with the subculture, specifically,
the fanzine portion. It is occasionally used by more convention oriented
fans as a pejorative implying impractical and narrow-minded, just as
"convention fan" is occasionally used by fanzine fans to imply money-
grubbing and insensitive. Then there is the term "media fan" used
usually as a pejorative, to imply illiterate, non-contributing or even
trouble-making.
The next seminar in thei series will cover: neo-fan, fringe-fan, costume fan,
fake fan and neo-pro. subscribe now! available for trade or "the usual"
( I think this means SASE plus a couple extra stamps )...
- Suford
(decwrl!rhea!spider!lewis@shasta)