...Fan fiction is a way of the culture repairing the damage done in a system where contemporary myths are owned by corporations instead of owned by the folk.
Interpretation
Fan fiction serves as a cultural response to the commercialization of contemporary myths by allowing people to engage and create their own narratives.
This quote highlights the idea that in a society where major narratives and contemporary myths are often controlled by corporations, fan fiction emerges as a form of cultural expression that enables individuals to reclaim these myths. By crafting their own stories, fans repair the disconnect caused by corporate ownership and create a communal space for storytelling and creativity, emphasizing the importance of shared cultural ownership over mass-produced narratives.
In practice
Using this quote at a fan fiction convention to highlight the importance of community and creativity.
If old consumers were assumed to be passive, then new consumers are active. If old consumers were predictable and stayed where you told them, then new consumers are migratory, showing a declining loyalty to networks or media. If old consumers were isolated individuals, then new consumers are more socially connected. If the work of media consumers was once silent and invisible, then new consumers are now noisy and public.
Fandom, after all, is born of a balance between fascination and frustration: if media content didn't fascinate us, there would be no desire to engage with it; but if it didn't frustrate us on some level, there would be no drive to rewrite or remake it.
Enshrined in a language is the whole of a community's history and a large part of its cultural identity. The world is a mosaic of visions. To lose even one piece of this mosaic is a loss for all of us.
Culture is public, because meaning is
...people will go for anything they don't understand if it's got enough hype. They want to be hip, want always to be in on the new thing so they don't look unhip. White people are especially like that, particularly when a black person is doing something they don't understand...That's what I thought was happening when Ornette hit town.
The whole world loves American movies, blue jeans, jazz and rock and roll. It is probably a better way to get to know our country than by what politicians or airline commercials represent.
If America is a melting pot, then to me India is a thali--a selection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls. Each tastes different, and does not necessarily mix with the next but they belong together on the same plate, and they complement each other in making the meal a satisfying repast.
If culture was a house, then language was the key to the front door, [and] to all rooms inside.
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