#and bc it's about appalachian women and education i've had one of likely several really brilliNt conver | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

folkinsomnia · 4 years ago

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the intense shaming culture of tumblr is good sometimes actually the current "fanfiction is/isn't literature" and "read something other than fanfiction/stop telling people what to read" discourses have made me start trying to read actual books again because I react wonderfully to feeling shamed

#i say this mostly tongue in cheek but with some sincerity!#i 100% do support the argument that fanfiction IS literature and can and does have works from absolute trash up to beautifully written #objectively high quality works #but that definitely veers into like. fan studies and probably folklore and sociology and all and i'm far too lazy to get into that lmao #however there is something to be said for diversity of literature consumption! i'm reading an academic text rn and i am loving it but it #is HARD. because it's not the fiction (of umpteen dofferent genres) i prefer. but it's also making me think a lot #and bc it's about appalachian women and education i've had one of likely several really brilliNt conver #*brilliant conversations with my mom (who was born in west virginia and didn't go to college but really pushed education for her kids)#the thing with fanfiction is that it allows for easier search and tailoring to a specific taste and there's a level of comfort i'd argue #because of the play being done w/preexisting narrative worlds and characters #like full honesty - i lived and breathed good omens CANON works (book show radio drama and such) and fan works for like 5 months in 2019 #because the canon works made me really happy and hit on specific interests of mine and experiences and emotions #and frankly there were just some really brilliant fan works being made about it. really talented creators!#going back to original works in the form of books has been extra challenging becausw - as i never stop saying - i have a BA in english anr #*and focused on lit classes and as much fun as they were and as stimulating as analysis and arguments and close readings were and still are #it actually did ruin one of my favorite activities for a long time because i couldn't turn off the analysis and the need to find things to #write about argue in class analyze for a final paper etc. to the point that it was a chore even with my love for such analytical reading #fanfiction makes that prt of my brain MUCH easier to turn off because i took one (1) class on fanfiction-as-literature which i loved but #didn't totally rewire the part of my brain that housed enjoyment of reading as a purely leisure activity #idk these are all highly personalized musings on what continues to be a super vitriolic topic of discourse #and as always my final thoughts are 'balance! nuance!' and also literature isn't a set in stone concept but also #variety and challenging one's self with new genres and formats (i.e. me with this academic text and then a memoir next)#does a HELL of a lot of good for the brain!! but also hobbies don't HAVE to be a challenge of course. this is just what I need #also helps that i've been trying to make reading books on the back porch a Thing so that I'm going outside AND reading and creating this gr8 #association between the upliftingness of the outdoors and relearning to love reading books. i'm making myself a ritual i guess #and i've also been doing needlepoint+podcast listening out there. and in a bit i'm gonna make a grocery list whilst on the porch

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