Cultus Dispatches: Tolkien, His Gnarly Canon, and His Authority

If you've ever stumbled into a comment section that is discussing fanfiction—and leaning anti-fanfiction—you are familiar with the fact that you (if you are a fanfiction writer) are a criminal. At least, that is how the objections to people playing around with texts and characters they didn't create for fun and not for profit are often depicted by people who don't know any better. (Hey, we're a fanfiction archive! We're allowed to be biased on this point.)

The reason these discussions escalate so quickly into accusations of criminality (and other villainy) is because of the perceived incursion on other people's authority over the original text. This month's Cultus Dispatches column considers authority, Tolkien's canon, and fanfiction. Fanfiction writers may be character-thieving rapscallions (according to some), but most of them do consider (and sometimes even respect!) Tolkien's authority in some areas, making for a complicated dance of creative and canon choices. Using data from the 2015 and 2020 Tolkien Fanfiction Surveys, Dawn looks at the attitudes of fanfiction writers toward factual details, morality, and Tolkien's perceived approval of their stories.

You can read Dawn's article "Tolkien, His Gnarly Canon, and His Authority" here.

Posted on 11 August 2023 (updated 16 September 2023) by SWG Moderators