*yawn*

I have removed a little over 30 journals from my flist in the last week and I'm still looking to cut more. I'm sure I'll read those journals again at some point, but right now I'm swamped and don't want to feel obliged to keep up with quite so many people. Needless to say, it's becoming much more manageable. Last night seperis and I were talking about filters and she suggested I set some up to read my flist more easily. I've tried filters more than a few times and I've never been able to make them work to my satisfaction. I find myself reading communities at their sites and never looking at the smaller filters. Eventually I always end up back on the default, unfiltered flist.

I'm really pleased with how badficsupport and potterversechat have turned out, but I don't think I've been putting enough work into promoting the_lioness, or that other community. If you know what I'm talking about, you're a member. If you don't then it doesn't matter. Look to see challenges and membership drives in each of the latter. tstar78 and I have long be searching for ways to increase the traffic at the_lioness and we've been playing with the idea of drabble challenges, since they're less of an intellectual investment than full length fics. I really do enjoy talking about Lillian Luthor, so increased traffic would make me very happy. BTW, check out the chat transcript that adolfa kindly posted in potterversechat for me. This week's topic was Minerva. Members remember that Minerva is now an open topic for the community.

This weekend I will be writing (and hopefully betaing) intensively, so if there's something you need, ask me today. I have 2 fics due and of course, 1 overdue, as well as that long promised birthday fic for celli. I'm toying with the idea of a silly Plionel drabble for thamaris. *g* How can anyone resist silly Petefic? If they can, I don't want to know about it. I think PoTC is going to be rewatched at some point...

(no subject)

It's so true.

On Meta

This grew out of a conversation with lavenderoracle.

Read this first.

A conventional literary definition meta fiction is a story that breaks the fourth wall, that is, it is self conscious. The purpose of meta fiction is ostensibly to evoke a more honest reaction of the audience than would otherwise be engendered. Some meta purports to be fiction without 'sneaky writer's tricks' though meta itself is a sneaky trick, of course. By breaking the fourth wall - killing dead the audience's ability to suspend disbelief - the author forces her readers to begin analyzing the text and their own reactions to it, if even somewhat less than deliberately.

Fandom meta, on the other hand, seems to be: that esoteric stuff that smart people write. This is a gross perversion of the original term, and so waters down the meaning that it's generally useless in serious conversation. We're all geeks in fandom and we tend to fall prey to the geek's love of Sekrit Code, but I think that the near fetishization of specialized terminology at times is out of control. Much of our lingo is so contextually dependant that to outsiders, we look like we're speaking giberish. Sure that's fun but sometimes it gets to the point where we really are speaking gibberish. 'Meta' is an excellent case in point.

saeva says:

While Metafic is defined as the characters being aware they're characters, meta-based fic could be defined as the authors being aware the characters *aren't* characters, insomuch as characters still have to be connected to social, psychological, and political issues (among others) within their own world.

ETA: Please note that saeva was specifically defining metafic. This was quoted from a Slytherclaw list post on the nature of Slytherclaw.

saeva is suggesting that we move from a strict definition of meta, to something that's more a kind of sensibility and I think this is one of the more useful redefinitions of the term. At least it is interally logical and far more precise than most. The notion of meta-based fiction, however has enormous potential for becoming a dangerously flimsy conceit in the hands of that kind of fan.

"Dude, my fic is like, about gender rolez. It's Teh Meta!!11"

However, considering the fluid and contrary nature of fandom, saeva is probably closer to how meta as a device is used, than the classic definition. Meta fan fiction often seems to feature both these definitions at once. Or at least much of the good meta fic does. My two favourite somtime-meta writers are acadine and pogrebin. In each of their stories, the notion of meta seems to function on both levels, at least as far as the authors are concerned.

So here's my question, do you perceive meta as being explicitly or implicitly acting to demolish the fourth wall? With the corollary: do you define literary language in terms of authorial intent or audience perception?