English Fanfiction and its Influence on today's Society

Fanfiction is a phenomenon that has influenced and is influenced greatly by our society. In this book, the influence of English fanfiction today is examined, with focus on the social, psychological and political impact of the fan-written texts. The definition of fanfiction, its origin and history are discussed and fanfiction terminology and websites are explained. The book focuses on who reads and writes fanfiction and how physical and mental illnesses as well as gender identity and sexuality are portrayed in fanfiction. It also aims to answer the question of how teenagers are influenced by fanfiction and how it impacts their development. It furthermore shows what we as a society can learn through reading fanfiction and interacting with the community, including second language acquisition and fanfiction in relation to classroom learning. Further topics include fanfiction as a form of imaginary play and defining fanfiction as a form of activism.

This work was first written as a research paper, the so called VWA, as part of the final high school exam in Austria. After receiving an award from the Education Directorate of Vorarlberg (Austria) in June 2022 for the best research paper in the category Social Sciences/Economics, the author chose to publish the extended version of the paper as a book.