Perhaps, I thought, years from now there might be a real recognizable tradition in early 21st century lit (particularly amongst female writers?)
Wow, I have to say I read this with some surprise because, in my opinion, this has already happened. Slash is a recognizable literary tradition of the 20th century with its own history and it has and does affect (and has been affected by) certain strands of pro writing (and will affect more I'm sure.)
I also have to confess that I'm fairly taken aback by what seems like your fairly negative view of slash as a genre--if it's feminized/weak then it's slash?
does it mean Brian and Justin have become wimpified? Too emotional? Feminized? Does Brian suddenly not want to sleep around? Does Justin suddenly need children? Is one of them pregnant? Things like that.
I really don't think this is what slash is about! Rather, it seems to me to be about creatively re-imagining and reinterpreting a set of codes--behavioral and social codes, mainly, but also literary and dramatic ones. By behavioral and social, I mean the way in which we Refuse the idea of the "swinging bachelor"--that behavior no longer reads as James Bondish but as "probably gay and needs a therapist" (and I think that Brian and Justin's codes are different, but still open to creative interpretation); by literary and dramatic, I mean the impulse to argue about what the "important" parts of the story are--in that way, we are all the people who fast-forwarded through the Yoda on Dagobah stuff to get to the Han-Leia kiss : yes, yes, your mileage may vary on this, you Yoda-loving freaks or who make edited tapes of teasers and codas and long shots of police officers' kitchens and other things that "everyone knows" aren't important. We're also narrative climax junkies; we love 'em and we can't have too many of them--in that way, it's a very female aesthetic. ;)
That's the beginning of a definition of "slash" for me, anyway, and I absolutely believe that there can be original slash and a slash aesthetic that transcends traditional fandoms.
no subject
Wow, I have to say I read this with some surprise because, in my opinion, this has already happened. Slash is a recognizable literary tradition of the 20th century with its own history and it has and does affect (and has been affected by) certain strands of pro writing (and will affect more I'm sure.)
I also have to confess that I'm fairly taken aback by what seems like your fairly negative view of slash as a genre--if it's feminized/weak then it's slash?
does it mean Brian and Justin have become wimpified? Too emotional? Feminized? Does Brian suddenly not want to sleep around? Does Justin suddenly need children? Is one of them pregnant? Things like that.
I really don't think this is what slash is about! Rather, it seems to me to be about creatively re-imagining and reinterpreting a set of codes--behavioral and social codes, mainly, but also literary and dramatic ones. By behavioral and social, I mean the way in which we Refuse the idea of the "swinging bachelor"--that behavior no longer reads as James Bondish but as "probably gay and needs a therapist" (and I think that Brian and Justin's codes are different, but still open to creative interpretation); by literary and dramatic, I mean the impulse to argue about what the "important" parts of the story are--in that way, we are all the people who fast-forwarded through the Yoda on Dagobah stuff to get to the Han-Leia kiss : yes, yes, your mileage may vary on this, you Yoda-loving freaks or who make edited tapes of teasers and codas and long shots of police officers' kitchens and other things that "everyone knows" aren't important. We're also narrative climax junkies; we love 'em and we can't have too many of them--in that way, it's a very female aesthetic. ;)
That's the beginning of a definition of "slash" for me, anyway, and I absolutely believe that there can be original slash and a slash aesthetic that transcends traditional fandoms.