The Re-Emergence of Medieval Authorship Models in Contemporary Genres
Medieval, pre-print authorship differs significantly from modern authorship in that it is often anonymous, derivative, collaborative or ‗conspiratorial.‘ While the invention of the printing press completely revolutionized book production and led to an unprecedented diversification, availability,...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Casa Cărții de Știință
2017-10-01
|
| Series: | Cultural Intertexts |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://b00e8ea91c.clvaw-cdnwnd.com/4fb470e8cbb34a32a0dc1701f8d7322d/200000314-5bc155bc18/104-123%20Debita%20-%20The%20Re-Emergence%20of%20Medieval%20Authorship%20Models%20in%20Contemporary%20Genres.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797996962982658048 |
|---|---|
| author | Gabriela DEBITA |
| author_facet | Gabriela DEBITA |
| author_sort | Gabriela DEBITA |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Medieval, pre-print authorship differs significantly from modern authorship in that it is
often anonymous, derivative, collaborative or ‗conspiratorial.‘ While the invention of the
printing press completely revolutionized book production and led to an unprecedented
diversification, availability, and affordability of printed material, it also profoundly changed
authorship models and introduced new material and legal constraints. With publishers
acting as gatekeepers, and with copyright laws limiting imitative and derivative
authorship, informal authorship became difficult and derivative authorship dangerous from
a legal point of view. However, the introduction of digital mediums eliminated some of
these constraints, allowing medieval authorship models to re-emerge in a number of genres
which were initially considered ‗fringe,‘ but which have been gradually joining the
mainstream over the course of the last decade: fantasy fiction, videogames, and fanfiction.
This paper analyzes two cases (the continuation of Robert Jordan‘s The Wheel of Time
fantasy series by author Brian Sanderson, and the expansion of the World of Warcraft
universe from the initial MMORPG to a complex network of canonical and non-canonical
works, including fiction, visual art, animation, and cinema), and argues that medieval
authorship practices are present in both. Our conclusion is that due to the popularity and
profitability of fantasy franchises and to the flexibility of digital mediums, such authorship
practices are gradually spreading upwards and inwards into mainstream publishing and
are likely to become increasingly common in decades to come. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:24:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-26c1884b5694400794f67f91d1f26346 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2393-0624 2393-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:24:36Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | Casa Cărții de Știință |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cultural Intertexts |
| spelling | doaj.art-26c1884b5694400794f67f91d1f263462022-12-22T04:29:37ZengCasa Cărții de ȘtiințăCultural Intertexts2393-06242393-10782017-10-017104123The Re-Emergence of Medieval Authorship Models in Contemporary GenresGabriela DEBITA0Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, RomaniaMedieval, pre-print authorship differs significantly from modern authorship in that it is often anonymous, derivative, collaborative or ‗conspiratorial.‘ While the invention of the printing press completely revolutionized book production and led to an unprecedented diversification, availability, and affordability of printed material, it also profoundly changed authorship models and introduced new material and legal constraints. With publishers acting as gatekeepers, and with copyright laws limiting imitative and derivative authorship, informal authorship became difficult and derivative authorship dangerous from a legal point of view. However, the introduction of digital mediums eliminated some of these constraints, allowing medieval authorship models to re-emerge in a number of genres which were initially considered ‗fringe,‘ but which have been gradually joining the mainstream over the course of the last decade: fantasy fiction, videogames, and fanfiction. This paper analyzes two cases (the continuation of Robert Jordan‘s The Wheel of Time fantasy series by author Brian Sanderson, and the expansion of the World of Warcraft universe from the initial MMORPG to a complex network of canonical and non-canonical works, including fiction, visual art, animation, and cinema), and argues that medieval authorship practices are present in both. Our conclusion is that due to the popularity and profitability of fantasy franchises and to the flexibility of digital mediums, such authorship practices are gradually spreading upwards and inwards into mainstream publishing and are likely to become increasingly common in decades to come.https://b00e8ea91c.clvaw-cdnwnd.com/4fb470e8cbb34a32a0dc1701f8d7322d/200000314-5bc155bc18/104-123%20Debita%20-%20The%20Re-Emergence%20of%20Medieval%20Authorship%20Models%20in%20Contemporary%20Genres.pdfmedievalauthorshipfantasyvideogamesfanfiction |
| spellingShingle | Gabriela DEBITA The Re-Emergence of Medieval Authorship Models in Contemporary Genres Cultural Intertexts medieval authorship fantasy videogames fanfiction |
| title | The Re-Emergence of Medieval Authorship Models in Contemporary Genres |
| title_full | The Re-Emergence of Medieval Authorship Models in Contemporary Genres |
| title_fullStr | The Re-Emergence of Medieval Authorship Models in Contemporary Genres |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Re-Emergence of Medieval Authorship Models in Contemporary Genres |
| title_short | The Re-Emergence of Medieval Authorship Models in Contemporary Genres |
| title_sort | re emergence of medieval authorship models in contemporary genres |
| topic | medieval authorship fantasy videogames fanfiction |
| url | https://b00e8ea91c.clvaw-cdnwnd.com/4fb470e8cbb34a32a0dc1701f8d7322d/200000314-5bc155bc18/104-123%20Debita%20-%20The%20Re-Emergence%20of%20Medieval%20Authorship%20Models%20in%20Contemporary%20Genres.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gabrieladebita thereemergenceofmedievalauthorshipmodelsincontemporarygenres AT gabrieladebita reemergenceofmedievalauthorshipmodelsincontemporarygenres |