Technology and Literature Teaching
Using Fanfiction to Teach Literary Canon
Nita Novianti
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Keywords: Technology and Literature, Fanfiction, Literary Canon, EFL Learners.
Abstract: Digital technology has created major changes in how people read and write literary works. Fanfiction, as one
of the recent phenomena in digital literature, can actually be used to help teachers teach literary canon that is
usually very challenging, especially for EFL learners. This paper reports a study on the use of fanfiction in
teaching literary canon to the first semester undergraduate students of an English literature program. It
delineates the processes involved in the teaching of literary canon using fanfiction, starting from planning,
implementation, to evaluation through close-reading and literary analysis tests, observations, and interviews.
The findings show that students who have interest in writing are greatly assisted in understanding the literary
canon assigned with the writing of fanfiction. However, for students who do not have much interest in writing,
using fanfiction does not really help them. Instead, they feel it is more burdensome, for besides having to
understand the work, they are also required to write and expand the work in the form of a fanfiction.
Nevertheless, both students with and without interest in writing enjoy the teaching and learning process, as
they can read various pieces of fanfiction to the literary canon and gain better understanding of the canonical
literary works through the group discussion and collaborative works. Fanfiction thus can be made an
alternative to teaching literary canon to EFL learners.
1 INTRODUCTION
The rapid development of technology has drastically
changed the practices of reading and writing
literature. Free flow of information and easy file
sharing and dissemination have made literary works
become even more accessible by internet users
worldwide. It has also been easier for readers to find
online reading communities with whom they may
share their similar interests in certain books, authors,
or genres. One of such online reading communities
takes a step further by re-writing the work of their
favorite authors, which goes by the name of
fanfiction. Fanfiction has increasingly gained
attention from the academics. What started as a
marginalized activity, especially in comparison to
academic literary practices (Yatrakis, 2013), has now
become an established literary genre (Fesenmeier,
2015; Nillan, 2010), notwithstanding its much
debated legitimacy in the danger of breaching the
copyright.
With its establishment as a literary practice and
part of the academic activities, many attempts have
been made to define fanfiction. Thomas (2011)
defined fanfiction as “the stories produced by fans
based on plot lines and characters from either a single
source text or else a ‘canon’ of works.” Fanfiction
may borrow the plot, characters, etc. from various
media: electronic, printed, or online (Thomas, 2011).
In other words, fanfiction has taken the literary
fandom into a new level of creativity.
Investigation of fanfiction has also become
commonplace, treating it as a new phenomenon in the
reading and writing culture (Silén, 2012) and in
literary practices (Yatrakis, 2013; Eero, 2014). Other
researchers chose to focus on the fanfiction writers,
both as individuals and communities (Lee, 2011).
Some other researchers sought to prove that fanfiction
has some benefits for the improvement of children’s
writing (Jenkins, 1992, 2004), for literary analysis in
secondary school if combined with other writing tools
(McWilliams, et al., 2011), for literary analysis,
creative writing techniques, and language
development of undergraduate EFL students (Sauro
and Sundmark, 2016), and for creative writing
processes of ESL secondary school students
(Schattenherz, 2016).
304
Novianti, N.
Technology and Literature Teaching - Using Fanfiction to Teach Literary Canon.
DOI: 10.5220/0007166403040308
In Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference
on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education (CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017) - Literacy, Culture, and Technology in Language Pedagogy and Use, pages 304-308
ISBN: 978-989-758-332-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

As the literature suggests, fanfiction has been
employed as a tool for literary analysis and to
improve students’ creative writing at secondary
school and college levels. Herein, the present research
would like to enrich the existing fanfiction studies by
investigating whether fanfiction can also be used to
teach literary canon to undergraduate students. As
adolescents or young adults, undergraduate students
are known to be internet and technology savvy. On
the other hand, literary canon is notorious among
EFL/ESL students to be “outdated”, really difficult to
learn, (Carter and Long, 1991), and does not only
challenge students with higher linguistic abilities, but
also with a good grasp of history, culture, and other
relevant background knowledge (Chang, 2003).
Hence, it will be interesting to see whether literary
canon that is “outdated” and “toilsome” can be
successfully taught using the most updated and
technologically savvy tool from the internet, namely
fanfiction.
2 METHOD
In order to investigate the possibility of using
fanfiction to teach literary canon to undergraduate
students, the present research involved 28
undergraduate students majoring in English
Literature, taking the introductory course to literature.
They were freshman of the age between 17-18 years
old who were not really familiar with English literary
canon. The students were selected on the basis of
convenience, as the researcher was teaching those
students. In addition, the objective of the research is
in accordance with the course objectives. Consent
was obtained in the beginning of the semester from
all of the students. The research was conducted in the
following stages.
Preliminary survey. Before conducting research,
a survey was carried out to find to what extent the
students knew about or used fanfiction and whether
they were familiar with English literary canon. The
results of the survey were made the basis to determine
whether the fanfiction research could be undertaken
or not. (The results of the preliminary survey are
discussed briefly in the results and discussion section)
The work selection. The survey further revealed
that the students had only heard about literary canon
from the teacher. Hence, in the first meetings of the
classes, the researcher delivered lectures on literature,
English literature, and English literary canon.
Students were then asked to browse a list of literary
canon writers and their works on the internet and
collaboratively decide which work they would like to
study for the class. The genre of prose, in this case
short story, was chosen. The 28 students were divided
into 4 groups, and each came up with different works
selected. In the process of selecting the work to write
about, the students were encouraged to read the
biography of the writers and their works, and choose
the most favorite writer along with his or her writing.
This process is important in order to raise strong
interest in and like for the work that is necessary for
writing fanfiction.
The fanfiction writing. All students in the class
were required to read the four selected short stories,
but each group only needed to write a fanfiction for
their selected story. Hence, a total of four short
fanfiction stories were obtained. Before beginning the
fanfiction writing, students were taught about
fanfiction, especially how to write one and the types
of fanfiction to choose. Some models of fanfiction
were provided as well. The students were free to write
in one style or combine several ones. The fanfiction
was then uploaded into the forum in spot.upi.edu, in
order to be read by other groups. The students were
to read other groups’ fanfiction and comment on them
individually.
The assessment. In order to assess whether
students had better understanding of the fanfiction
they read, a close reading test combined with
questions on analysis of literary elements was given
before and after the fanfiction writing. The test
consists of 30 multiple choice questions and five
essay questions on three short stories. Discussion of
literary analysis of the works was also carried out
throughout the processes to observe whether students
had increased understanding of the works they have
read in terms of content and analysis of literary
elements. Finally, interviews were carried out to find
students’ opinion of the use of fanfiction in learning
literary canons.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of the research show that fanfiction has
the potential to be used in teaching literary canon to
undergraduate students. There are some measures to
take in order to implement this particular method,
namely students’ familiarity with fanfiction, students’
self-selected work to write about, students’
enthusiasm in reading and “fanfictioning” the
selected work, teacher’s careful guidance and clear
explanations of the fanfiction tasks, and an
appropriate forum facilitating the sharing, reading,
and discussion of the fanfiction. These aspects are
further elaborated in the sections to come.
Technology and Literature Teaching - Using Fanfiction to Teach Literary Canon
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3.1 Building Undergraduate Students’
Understanding of Fanfiction and
Literary Canon
The results of a preliminary survey show that all of
the students already knew about fanfiction. Further
investigation reveals that 8 (28.57%) of the students
came to know fanfiction while browsing on the
internet and they had the experience of reading
several pieces of fanfiction. More than half or 16
(57.14%) of them heard about fanfiction from friends
or relatives and had read one or at least two pieces of
short fanfiction. The rest of the students, or four of
them (14.28%), had only heard about fanfiction but
never had the experience of reading it.
The results of the survey confirmed the argument
that undergraduate students who are mostly
technologically savvy are quite familiar with
fanfiction, as one of the most popular platforms of
online reading and writing. Thus, teaching literature
to them using fanfiction is considered appropriate, as
also shown by other similar studies (McWilliams, et
al., 2011; Sauro and Sundmark, 2016; Schattenherz,
2016; Thomas, 2006). With students being familiar
with fanfiction, the researcher gained more
confidence in using this emerging literary genre to
teach English literary canon.
In the next step, the teacher taught using the
methods of lecturing and modeling about types of
fanfiction based on Jenkins (1992). Over the ten types
of fanfiction Jenkins classified, namely
recontextualization, expanding the series timeline,
refocalization, moral realignment, genre shifting,
cross overs, character dislocation, personalization,
emotional intensification, and eroticization, the
teacher chose to introduce only the first three types.
This selection was made on the basis of time
efficiency and suitability to the syllabus and the goals
of the course as a whole. The fanfiction models
provided help improve students’ understanding and
assist them in planning what to write.
Another preparation needed for teaching literary
canon using fanfiction is concerned with knowledge
and understanding of English literary canon, and
literary canon in general. Hence, the teacher gave a
lecture to lay the foundation of the topic, which is in
accordance with the general objective of the course
the students were taking. To further familiarize
students with English literary canon, the teacher
assigned them to make their own survey by browsing
on the internet. Due to the large number of students
taking the class and participating in the research and
in order to motivate the students, the teacher divided
them into groups. The students were also assigned to
read several works of their interest and pick one as
their most favorite. In order to create a sense of strong
likes or “fandom”, the teacher asked the students to
do some research on the author’s background and
other relevant information related to the work
selected. A week after, the students presented the
results of their survey. The works selected by the
students include Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,”
Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby,” Roald Dahl’s “The
Landlady,” and W. W. Jacob’s “The Monkey’s Paw.”
The next process is the writing of fanfiction based on
the four selected canonical short stories.
3.2 Improvement in Students’
Understanding of the Literary
Canon
In general, it can be stated that the students improve
their understanding of the canonical short stories
assigned. The improvement can be seen in the
increased average score of their close-reading and
literary analysis tests before and after the
collaborative fanfiction writing, namely 44.5 and
74.5, respectively in a 100 scale. Teacher’s
observations further reveal this improvement, as the
students are able to answer her question, become
more engaged in the group and classroom discussion,
and show more enthusiasm in the teaching and
learning process as a whole. Interviews were also
conducted in order to gain more explanations about
how the students improve their understanding and
how they think fanfiction has helped them. These
improvements will be elaborated in the rest of the
paragraphs.
In the first two weeks, the students were assigned
to read the selected short stories at home and discuss
them in the classroom with their groupmates and the
teacher. A close-reading and literary analysis test then
was given in the following week. An average score of
44.5 was obtained, which is less than satisfactory.
Upon closer investigation, the students who scored
lower than or equal to the average score had several
reasons for their unsatisfactory performance. Some of
them admitted that they did not have the motivation
to read the short stories. They were further
discouraged by the difficult grammatical structure
and vocabularies contained in the text. On the other
hand, students who had quite good knowledge of
grammar and vocabulary encountered difficulties in
understanding the story due to their lack of
background knowledge, such as historical events,
people, and places mentioned in the story and the
culture involved. Van (2009) attested to this
difficulty, noting that in addition to linguistic barriers,
CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology
Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
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literary canon poses students with challenges to
understand the cultural, political, and historical
references.
However, the difficulties should not be made an
excuse not to teach literary canon at all. Ferradas
(2009) argued that the benefits of teaching it worth all
the challenges it poses. Some of the benefits include
“meaningful (and memorable) contexts for new
vocabulary and structures, “procedural abilities to
interpret discourse,” “access to new socio-cultural
meanings,” and stimulation for “the imagination, as
well as critical and personal response” (p. 27).
Considering these benefits, the teaching of literary
canon becomes necessary, and hence the teacher is
obliged to be creative in motivating students to learn
the canon.
In the subsequent week, the students started
reading and collaboratively writing the fanfiction to
their group’s selected work and uploaded it into the
column of “forum” in spot, a web-based academic
platform provided by the university in which the
research took place. Each student was required to
comment on the other three fanfiction stories made by
the other groups. The comments may range from
corrections on punctuation and grammar to feedback
on the content level. This particular assignment is to
make sure that the students read the fanfiction written
by other groups.
Another close-reading and literary analysis test
was conducted after the process of collaborative
fanfiction writing. The questions were essentially the
same, but they were modified from the first test in
order to avoid duplicity. The average score for the
second test was greater than that for the first one,
namely 74.5; in other words, there was a 30 point of
increase as a whole. This increased average score
shows that the students have better understanding of
the literary canon after they join in group fanfiction
writing. Interviews disclose that students gain a lot of
benefits from the group discussions they had during
the process of fanfiction writing. They have become
more attentive to details as well, as they were required
to expand the story.
Finally, improvement is also observed in students’
literary analysis. They have more in-depth
understanding of the literary elements of plot,
character and characterization, and point of view after
practicing writing the fanfiction. This is so, because
the three types of fanfiction that the students made
largely use the three literary elements. The groups
who made recontextualization of their short story
modify the plot of the original story to create
additional events that explain certain characters’
attitudes or actions left unclear in the original version.
Hence, their understanding of types of plot
techniques, such as flashback, in media res, etc. is
deepened. They also learn more about character and
characterization. The groups that expand the series
timeline of the original short stories become well-
versed in the literary elements of character and
characterization, as they explore the characters’
backgrounds unexplained in the original work.
Finally, the groups working with refocalization of the
original short stories have more understanding about
point of view and/or focalization, as they shift the
point of view or focal point from the protagonist to
the antagonist. This result confirms the results of
previous research on how fanfiction can be used to
teach literary analysis (McWilliams, et al., 2011;
Schattenherz, 2016). In addition, albeit not the focus
of the current study, students’ creative writing is also
facilitated through the collaborative fanfiction
writing assignment, as is the finding of Silén (2012)
and Schattenherz (2016).
On the other hand, the problems encountered
during the implementation of fanfiction writing in
teaching literature are concerned with students’ lack
of interest in writing. Not all students are fond of
writing, especially the male students. Thomas’
research (2006) attests to the tendency that girls tend
to be more avid writers of fanfiction than boys. In
addition, although the teacher was able to make sure
that the students read the fanfiction written by other
groups by requiring them to comment on the
fanfiction, due to the large number of students
involved, she could not make sure all students
participated in the writing. The students insisted,
though, that all members of their groups at least
contributed to the understanding of the original story
and how to expand it as fanfiction. Hence, overall, the
students benefit from the teaching of literary canon
using fanfiction, ultimately from the discussions of
work with other members of the group, and they
enjoy reading the fanfiction written by other groups.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Teaching literary canon is always difficult and
challenging, yet EFL teachers cannot avoid teaching
this especially to undergraduate students because this
is part of the subject in English literature.
Undergraduate students who are mostly
technologically savvy and active users of the internet
can be motivated to learn the literary canon using the
medium they are mostly familiar with, the internet.
Hence, fanfiction is appropriate for the purpose.
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The research has further shown the
appropriateness of using fanfiction in teaching
literary canon as proven by the improvement
experienced by the students in their understanding of
the works. Their increased average score in the tests
and better understanding in using literary elements
become the proof of the appropriateness of using
fanfiction to teach literary canon. However, it should
also be pointed out that the students may benefit
solely from reading the works repeatedly and
discussing them with their friends, not necessarily
from the fanfiction writing itself. Hence, a design of
experimental group and control group with statistical
measurements will be needed to further confirm the
effectiveness of fanfiction writing method in
improving undergraduate students’ understanding of
literary canon. Another drawback of this research is
the large number of students involved in the
classroom that made it quite impossible to make sure
all members of the group participated in the writing
of the fanfiction, especially because the writing was
mostly done as homework assignment. Thus, future
research is suggested to include a smaller number of
students to ensure students’ participation.
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Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
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