People are like Fan Fiction. On an Example of Fanfik by Natalia Osińska

Abstract

The article concerns the analysis of Fanfik, a young adult novel written by Natalia Osińska, especially a metaphorical meaning of its title. It is associated with studies of fan culture, that are using a metaphor as a research tool, such as Henry Jenkin's metaphor of the textual poacher, which organizes a kind of framework for better understanding fan creativity. Cultural studies are linked with radical feminism and its postgender thesis to inrterpret the title of the novel in an existential and phenomenological view. The plot of the novel challenges ideological postulates of identity politics based on a concept of narrative identity. Therefore, fan fiction is understood primarily as a social phenomenon. It is opposed to a traditionalist perception of a book itself, which is also analysed in a metaphorical sense, that is connected with the popular sentence: „people are like books”. A purpose of the article is to show that is more likely to say: „people are like fan fiction”.