ABSTRACT
Fan fiction and fairy tales can become enmeshed both at the level of content and practice. Fan fiction provides a space wherein non-professionals may add to what Cristina Bacchilega calls the “fairy-tale web” or the vast network of fairy tale representations in many media forms throughout history. These amateur stories may incorporate content beyond the norms and expectations of the media industry and the art world. In addition to studying stories’ content, reflecting on fans and fairy tales together can open a unique window into a shared set of storytelling practices and their cultural context. The meaning of communal authorship in each case may serve as one last concrete example of the continuities and tensions between fairy tale and fan fiction storytelling practices. Fan fiction is one site in modern culture where stories are still produced under conditions of communal authorship and wherein stories may proliferate in an iterative process that results in multiple versions.
