Fanfiction

This chapter looks at how Dickens’s work is used in digital fanfiction across three popular web-based platforms: Archiveofourown.org, Fanfiction.net, and Wattpad.com. By analysing the function of repetition and interactivity in the practice of fanfiction adaptations of Dickens’s works, we can see how Dickens’s place in cultural memory is dynamic. Dickens remains popular because his works have been used in changing art forms, including fanfiction. Widespread familiarity with some of Dickens’s works and characters enables fanfiction writers to draw on established background knowledge and develop their own literacy skills. Crossovers with other popular fandoms and retellings also serve to build on established Dickensian memory, while helping readers to interpret Dickens’s work through modern focalisation, perpetuating Dickens’s cultural relevance. The shared authorship and communality of fanfiction mirrors the communal readership and piracy of Dickens’s work in the nineteenth century. By considering the increasingly legitimate art form of fanfiction and its adoption of Dickens as a fandom, we can adjust not only our perception of fanfiction but also our perception of Dickens the cultural icon.