help a sistah out.

[pop_tarts]

so I'm mostly done my paper on RPF as myth. Mostly as in, I need a fuck of a lot more research, and references up the wazoo.

But if anyone wants to read the almost totally completed first draft, you can get it either in word format or in HTML.

and if you do read it, I'd love comments and/or concerns. I mean, I'm still working on this. and it's due Wednesday. so I'd really like comments. :)

Comments

[popfantastic.livejournal.com]

Still reading, 'cause you made with the words and stuff, and I'm not smrt like that, but I can tell you that you may get thwapped (as I did, in public, loudly, at a panel this one time...) for "Zine culture has all but died out because of online resources." I think it's fair to say that zines are far less central/irrelevant to the newer-arising fandoms, but I'm not sure that I'd say that zines or zine culture have all but died out. Mostly I'm not sure I'd say it because I don't want to get thwapped again, but the zine folks may have a point.

Re:

[pop-tarts.livejournal.com]

thanks :)

I'll probably take that part out; it's not central to the argument and so I don't really really need it. and if it's not an accurate generalization (I'm the first to admit that I don't know nearly enough about the offline community to talk about them) then it's easiest to just take it out rather than change it/back it up.

yes. uh. thank you.

[popfantastic.livejournal.com]

Yay. Read through, email coming.

[glockgal.livejournal.com]

Due on Wednesday? And you're working on it today? I'm impressed. *g*

*prints out*

I will be reading this and hopefully if I have anything constructive to say (although I am a very lame person with papers)I will, yes. Because it's you and it's about myth. *content*

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

i was gonna answer your email, but dh has unplugged the internet connection to my computer (for yesterday's b'day party which ended without bloodshed btw) and bellsouth is screwing my mail access again...read the paper last night and like just about all of the argument(though you're really getting to some of the best of it by the time you stop) but think you might want to consider some structural revisions. i'm not sure about canadian papers or your discipline, but i'm wondering whether you might add an intro paragraph that kind of starts in medias res...either with a particularly exemplary event (like kel meeting all the slashers while waiting for nick's concert or your Orlando concert experience) that moves you into your popslash as myth thesis or by simply describing the state of contemporary myth (which apparently seems mostly dead, right?) only to present your grand thesis of popslash, the new myth... the most difficult thing then is to define all your various terms and concepts...you do a great job with the myth parts but less so on the fic side (which may be a particular problem considering your audience who knows a lot about the former and nothing about the latter). Some things are used but never defined (like the zine stuff)...also, I think you need to think about your outline as in why is popslash so much better as myth than xyz...i.e., i'd start with fandom and its myth features, move onto fic/slash (and you might just want to address why you use slash metonymically for fanfic as a whole due to the quality issue in a footnote or something?) and how it works better than fandom and then move onto the internet and finally rps as an especially useful part...that way, you slowly collect these different myth aspects and explain along the way why non-writing fandom/zine culture/mediafic are all less apt as myth-producing...this might also allow you to define as you go along (though you'll probably still need a brief definition around your thesis just to let your reader know where you're going). ok, i need to reread it for contents issues and some more detailed feedback...hopefully, i'll be able to email tomorrow (or rather later today) and i'm teaching sunday evening, so i might have a bit of me-time before class at school...hope i made any sense at all...i think it might be helpful to outline (yes, the evil word :-) and you'll see how your paragraphs are all there, just not necessarily in the most reader-friendly order...

and let me know if you want me to delete this entry after you've read it...few people are into totally public criticism...even if it's supposed to be constructive :-)

Re:

[pop-tarts.livejournal.com]

*hugs* thanks baby doll, this is totally helpful. as far as structure, yeah, I think I'm going to have to outline, outline, outline. a lot. "" because structure! I need logical structure! it's killing me!

but yes. and don't worry about the public criticsm, that's cool, thank you. I'm going to finish the last section I'm working on, add an intro and conclusion, and then maybe try to fuck with the order of things for real. then just lots and lots of footnoting. footnoting kills me dead.

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

if you can have something to me by 5 my time, i'll hopefully be able to look at the new version...otherwise, i'll just say a few more things specifically on the draft i have

and don't overdo the contents footnotes...most people feel really ambiguous about it...one of my teachers refused to have any...ever...and called them the paper's unconscious :-)...i just love them, b/c you can put in all the cool ideas you can't really support all the way; and all the research that you've done; and everything else that doesn't quite fit; and...

re: zine discussion above...i think you should keep it in as far as delineating its differences to online fandom is concerned (and then there's yet another move from mailing lists/central archives to lj i'd argue)...but you don't really need to talk about its aliveness or death...just that the community is less of an oral one maybe? (though for me the biggest aspect of internet fandom is still that it's available without having to participate in fanculture ==> younger, more diverse audience; quicker turnaround for everything...for better or worse...; the ability to be a passive consumer without fan participation (hangs my head in shame :-)) if you want a very brief overview, check out Bacon-Smith on Questia