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In:Children’s Literature Across Media: Concepts and perspectives of transmedia narratives
Edited by Nina Christensen, Ute Dettmar and Sarah Mygind
[Children’s Literature, Culture, and Cognition 21] 2026
► pp. 150–168

Chapter 8
The mass in the margins

On fanfiction’s controversial place in the literary and transmedia landscape

This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
Fanfiction is deeply entangled with young adult literature and encourages an understanding of the YA genre within a larger context of audience agency and participation. At the same time, fanfiction challenges traditional conceptions of literature and transmedia storytelling. A growing number of media are located in in-between spaces, contributing to an erosion of strict literature-fanfiction and producer-consumer divides. How fanfiction fits into the landscape of fiction production is a contested question in scholarship and fan communities. This contribution offers the perspectives of young media fans; most study participants appreciated that there remains a distinction between the two spheres, as they serve different purposes. This highlights a need for academic umbrella terms, which can encompass both institutional and audience-led fiction production.
Article outline
  • Fanfiction in literature: Entanglements
  • Fanfiction and literature: Blurry boundaries
  • Fanfiction as literature: A matter of function
  • Fanfiction in the transmedial landscape
  • Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • References
References (63)
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