ABSTRACT
Fan identity is frequently associated with negative connotations, such as weird, obsessive loner, passive consumer, and fanatic. However, fans nowadays are not passive consumers. They engage in literacy practices, one of which is producing fanfiction. This paper explores identity reconstruction in fanfiction through Cath Avery, the main character in Rowell's Fangirl. Using New Literacy Studies as a lens and the concept of figured worlds, this paper argues that fanfiction enables Cath to reconstruct her fan identity into a more positive and creative one as she becomes a well-known writer in cyberspace. Moreover, fanfiction serves as empowerment for Cath through a separate identity in her personal life. The result shows that the literacy events in the novel reveal the identity reconstruction of Cath Avery. She creates a new-figured world of a fan into a more positive one from the literacy events and practices. It can be concluded that Cath confronts her negative positional fan identity and figures out her figurative identity through fanfiction as her literacy practices.
