“Happy in a million different ways”: Fanfiction and Counterstorytelling in Cynthia So’s If You Still Recognise Me

Hsieh, N. N. (2023) “Happy in a million different ways”: Fanfiction and Counterstorytelling in Cynthia So’s If You Still Recognise Me. The Child and the Book Conference, University of Rouen, Normandy, 2-4 May 2024. (Unpublished)

Abstract

At its most basic level, fanfiction (or ‘fanfic’) can be described as “stories produced by fans based on plot lines and characters from either a single source text or else a ‘canon’ of works” (Thomas, 2011, p. 1). However, Lamerichs (2018) argues that fanfiction also has the potential to move beyond the narrative confines of these source stories; she writes, “Productive fandom has often been compared to quilting, wherein old materials are torn apart and reassembled. An equally appropriate term to describe this phenomenon is rewriting, which highlights how fans attribute new values to existing stories” (p. 17, my emphasis). Consequently, fanfiction can be a powerful tool that demonstrates the creative and restorative power of retelling and reconstructing stories, particularly for young people who have been repeatedly marginalised and made invisible by society. In this sense, fanfiction can be considered a kind of counterstorytelling, which is an emancipatory practice that seeks to elevate the stories, histories, and lived experiences of the people and communities that are so rarely portrayed in mainstream media culture (Solórzano and Yosso, 2002; Iftikar and Museus, 2018). Fanfiction not only allows marginalised readers to create stories that centre characters with whom they identify, it also empowers them to take canonical storylines and rewrite them into the stories they wish they could read (Floegel, 2020). Furthermore, it is an avenue for fanfic writers to explore their own identities and, particularly with the increasing popularity of online fanfics, to find and form communities with like-minded individuals. Taking all of this into consideration, Thomas (2011) remarks on the power of fanfiction as “a transgressive force [which offers] a voice for marginalized groups and [reveals] the subversive potential of seemingly safe or familiar storyworlds” (p. 7). This “transgressive force” is demonstrated in the novel If You Still Recognise Me by Cynthia So (2022), a young adult novel about British Chinese teenager Elsie Lo. Alongside navigating normal teenage challenges such as exams, summer jobs, and dating, Elsie also struggles throughout the book with coming to terms with her queer identity and how to express this identity to her conservative family. Though she herself does not write fanfiction, she avidly reads and comments on fanfics for her favourite comic series, especially fanfics that focus on two specific queer characters of colour from the series. She explains: “It’s just.. really wonderful to have this space where being queer feels like the norm, and queer characters get to have different love stories and find themselves and each other and be happy in a million different ways” (p. 179). For Elsie, fanfiction is a safe space for her to explore the many facets of queerness and queer joy, in defiance of a world where queer characters don’t often get to be the protagonists with happy endings. Thus, fanfiction can be an instrument of healing and empowerment for readers who do not feel represented or truly seen; they have the agency to take old stories and rewrite them in new and more inclusive ways.

• Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
• Status: Unpublished
• Refereed: No
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hsieh, Natalie Naihuei
• Authors: Hsieh, N. N.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences