In recent weeks I have been jotting down notes for some new pages on DariaWiki, covering certain fanwork conventions often seen in Daria fanfiction. By conventions I mean the types of fanfic people write, like shippers, angst stories, and . . . fantasy.Fantasy is not often seen in Daria fanfic, as the show was generally realistic in plot and presentation. However, there were some startling moments when reality began to bend and twist like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The episodes that tended toward fantasy were not as popular as the realistic ones; this topic is further discussed at DariaWiki here, in detail. Nonetheless, some popular and fascinating fantasy works have appeared and bear closer examination. To this end, a DariaWiki page has been started (but not yet finished) covering the whole of fantasy fanfic in general, with special pages added (or soon to be added) for sub-genres such as dream worlds, fairytales, modern fantasies, and so forth. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy has been of great help in defining terms and offering ideas here.
Online contributions from other fans are more than welcome, as are suggestions here for categories of fantasy that could be covered, fantasy works from the earlier days of the fandom, and any other comments you have in general on the topic. Science-fiction stories will be a future project (apocalyptic SF, space-travel SF, time-travel SF, etc.), and horror will be covered as well.
One major benefit from all this work will be to look anew at many older fanworks and at more recent stories that are deserving of attention but too soon passed by. Here, your advice will be of great help, and (as always) you can contribute directly at DariaWiki. Cheers, and party on!
2 comments:
So where does superhero fiction fit in?
I've seen the genre called "heroic fantasy" which I suspect is a euphemism to get away from the Men in Tights image. It has borrowed quite liberally from both science fiction and fantasy, yet tries to ground its pseudo-explanations in scientific jargon.
Most likely "superhero fiction" is a bastard child of both genres, claimed by neither. I'd be quite surprised if it is counted as fantasy.
Marvel and DC go to great lengths to justify their characters' powers using scientific means; even wizards have their powers quantified and limited, in the main. There is already an entry for superhero tales on DariaWiki, and eventually it could go as a subgenre of SF.
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