oneiriad

So, I've been reading some pretty interesting posts around the place lately, especially siljamus's post about Fans from Elsewhere and kradical's about the differences between fanfic and profic, as well as a lot of the comments and debate both have caused. And they have managed to get me thinking and wanting to write something intelligent of my own. Of course, I could just talk about some differences, maybe complain about the puzzling things for a fan from elsewhere like myself (like the rating system we use for fanfic - seriously, I doubt I'll ever get it. If the American movie rating system and the Danish movie rating system ever sit down for a drink, the Danish one is going to leave with the impression that the American one is a pervert with an unnatural obsession with swearwords and naked people...)

Instead, I think I'll talk about fanfic and medie-tie ins, derivative fiction and Denmark. I write from personal experience and what I have been able to find - if you know more or differently, please tell me.

First of all, Denmark - in case you didn't know - is a small country in Northern Europe, population ca. 5,4 mio. We're pretty small and easy to miss. There is a joke that foreigners think Denmark is the capital of Stockholm, though sometimes, I get the impression that the joke would be more accurate if it was that foreigners think that Amsterdam is the capital of Denmark.

Three facts about Denmark:

1) English is the second language taught in Danish schools and pretty widely known. While fluency is far from certain, most Danes know at least enough to talk and many know more. The children are starting to learn earlier and earlier, they read Shakespeare in high school, and nearly every bookshop and library are selling/lending English books.

2) Denmark is on the very forefront of everything computer-related. One of the few good things about the current government: they love computers. When statistics appear over number of people with online access, Denmark tends to be very highly placed - sometimes even number one. Everything is going online, if it hasn't already.

3) As a small country, Denmark imports massive amounts of cultural products, and the biggest source is the English speaking world, especially the US and UK. Admittedly, there can be a fairly long delay on some things, especially television, and some never appear at all. Also, we do import from lots of other places too. (If you're American, three pieces of advice when dealing with a Dane. a) Do not assume that a Dane will know something, no matter how common or obvious it may seem to you. b) Do not assume that a Dane will not know something, no matter how obscure it may seem to you. c) Do assume that a Dane will know a hell of a lot that you don't)

Anyway, I tell you these things to make you understand one thing: that it would actually be a lot more shocking if there were no Danes involved in fan fiction than the fact that there are is.

And there are Danes in fandom - myself for one. We are scattered and not organized, and pleasantly surprised every time we encounter a fellow Dane, but we are here. According to Fanhistory.com there have been a couple of Danish fanzines, but mostly we seem to have coincided with the arrival of the internet, a lovely thing that made us aware of others like ourselves. Of course, if I was one of those who think that Homer wrote greek myth fan fiction, I could also talk about Charlotte Baden, a Danish authoress who in 1795 published her own sequel to Samuel Richardson's "Sir Charles Grandison", adding a historical dimension. I'm not, but she kind of deserves an honorary mention anyway.

Also, would you say that making your own illustrations for "The Lord of the Rings" constitutes fangirly behaviour? Because in that case I can point to our current queen, Margrethe II of Denmark. Which I personally think is slightly cool (and slightly off topic, so, back on track).

So, Danes in fandom. Some even write in Danish. Not many. I have been able to find a couple of message boards with Danish fan fiction, and there is some on Fanfiction.net. Not much, and a lot of it is Harry Potter, but it exists. From what I have been able to find and from my own experience, I suspect that most write in English simply to be a part of a fandom. It's no fun if nobody can read you story, after all, and the lack of organization and awareness among most Danish fanficcers makes it a logical choice to write in English.

Also, there doesn't seem to be much fan fiction written about Danish cultural products. There is some. Over on Fanfiction.net can be found stories based on Hans Christan Andersen's fairytales and the computer game Hitman, there is rpf about Mads Mikkelsen and Viggo Mortensen (why yes, I have a wide definition of cultural products), I have been surprised at finding Olsenbanden slash and fled screaming, scarred for life, at the merest hint of a Dolph/Star Wars crossover. And that's it. No long, plotty story about the life of Daniel Skjern, with plenty of angst and hurt/comfort. No amusing tales from the continued adventures of Gemyse and Skipper, maybe with a crossover with James Bond, since they're all secret agents. No Tordenskjold meets Hornblower or the Aubrey/Maturin crowd. No Onkel Anders/Onkel Sofus twincest (and thank god for that, by the way - excuse me while I go wash my brain with bleach). No squickly pwp Hugo/Trolderik slash with tail-pr0n - or should we throw in Krøllebølle and make it an OT3? Again, fan fiction needs a fandom - if nobody else has heard about something, well, who is going to read your tale? (by the way, if you have seen any of these or anything else, do tell me - except the twincest one...)

Media tie-in novels for Danish media is not exactly something that is produced in overwhelming amounts either. Apart from books for tiny kids - Kaj & Andrea, Bamse & Kylling - media tie-in fiction tends to be limited to an occasional novelization, usually for a movie or a christmas calender. Lots of things have tie-in products - from board games and toys to comics and cookbooks to a musical - but novels are a relatively rare sight.

Not that tie-in novels are unknown in Denmark. It's just mostly imported and translated ones - I can think of Star Wars, Doctor Who, X-files and Pirates of the Caribbean. Or you can buy the original ones - or just loan them at the library, they actually have a lot of English tie-in novels on their shelves.

It's not that Danish writers never let themselves be inspired to write stories based on existing characters. Off the top of my head I can think of Danish derivative fiction based on Sherlock Holmes, Jeppe paa Bjerget, Dracula, various mythologies, The Three Musketeers and the Cthulhu mythos. Also, a few years ago, an anthology was published called "Fortsættelse følger" (To be continued), where a number of respected Danish authors wrote sequels to several Danish literary classics. It amuses me that at least one author, Klaus Rifbjerg, is in it on both sides of the fence, so to speak. (I confess, I have yet to read this - because I have yet to read several of the classics... bad me).

Also, it's not derivative, but I feel the need to mention a new Danish movie, AFR, which is really a kind of rps. I wonder how the Americans would react if somebody made a movie wherein their current president was murdered by a secret gay lover? I bet they would make Pia Kjærsgaard's bitching look downright sane... anyway, back on track.

Also, there are Danes writing official tie-in fiction - just not for Danish products. Disney, who have also used a pile of Danes in the production of their comics, have had Lene Kaaberbøl, the uncrowned queen of Danish fantasy, and a few others writing tie-in novels for their series W.I.T.C.H. None of them have written many and for none of them is it their primary literary pursuit.

I also think i should mention Teddy Kristiansen, a Danish comic book creater, who made an official Danish Superman comic (ithe plot is predictable and mostly an excuse to give Superman a tour of Scandinavia, which is fairly amusing. Poor guy, confronted with a Swedish demonstration against him, because he is product of American cultural imperialism. But I am embarrassed by the attempt at a Danish superheroine in it - she's not really much of anything). Since then he has made a name for himself - in the American comic book industry.

Also, random honorary mention goes to Dennis Jürgensen and his fake movie tie-in novel, "De kom fra Blodsumpen 2". Just for the hell of it.

What I am trying to say here is that there are not really any Danes who live off writing tie-in fiction. Not that there is anything surprising about that. After all, in Denmark you can live for writing, but writing for a living - sorry.

There is in Denmark today a very small number of authors - and by small I mean a handfull or two - who can live well off their writing alone. A few hundred make do - earning the equivalent of a month's pay or two for a single book and surviving on government grants and by giving lectures, doing translations, reviews and other such things on the side. The rest? Well, they have to get themselves a "real" job and write on their own time...

My point here is that for a Dane, the real difference between spending your time writing fan fiction and writing something that can be published, is definitely not the money. The size of audience, well... in

kradical's post he talks about 20.000 copies for the lowest selling tie-in novels, he talks about commercially viable. In Denmark many books are published in 1-2000 copies, and not necessarily sold out. Now, personally, when I write a story and post it at the sparrington community, for instance, which has 888 members right now - well, 888 or 1000 potential readers, what's the difference? Sure, there are bestsellers, but there is nobody who can guarantee that you get one and I'm pretty sure that if I ever manage to get published I'll be sufficiently odd as to not be that lucky (mass audiences are a relative thing - an illustration: the largest literary fanclub in Denmark is, as far as I know, for Dennis Jürgensen, one of our most productive, if not exactly highbrow, writers - it has a bit more than a couple of thousand members. That's a mass audience.)

Of course, being published gives you more than just money or an audience - it gives you (with a little luck) the respect of your peers and others, that nice feeling it must be to hold your book in your hands, and - of course - bragging rights. You're a real writer, you can be really proud of your accomplishment. Of course, we're in Denmark - don't get too proud, don't brag too much. Bragging rights are a very limited thing in the home country of the law of Jante. Don't get too uppity, or they'll be quick to bring you down a notch or twenty.

And what does all this mean, in the end, for me? It means that I choose to write fan fiction - in a language not my own about things that are foreign too me - and it is my choice and it is my pleasure. It means that maybe one day I'll write something and try to get it published - and that too will be my choice and - hopefully - my pleasure. But in the end, to me, all writing must be the same, and by the same I mean, that it must first and foremost be for me. I must be satisfied with it, because I cannot be sure anybody else will care - and I can be damn sure that even if they do, then their caring will never be a way to get food on the table. In the end, writing to live is an unrealistic dream - but I can always live to write...

Danfic - fanfic, profic, fiction period - some thoughts

Odzywki

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