Quando os Heróis São Elas: Fanfics Gender-Bender e a Saga Harry Potter

Abstract

This dissertation is dedicated to the study of fanfictions produced from the Harry Potter saga, the world-famous book series written by British author J.K Rowling. Fanfics, as they are also called, are fictional narratives, inspired by books and/or other literary products, written by fans. Currently, these narratives are disseminated on digital platforms. The website spiritfanfiction is dedicated to self-publishing these stories. It can be considered one of the largest digital platforms to host this literary genre in Brazil, which is why it was chosen as the field of this research. The main aim of this work is to analyze two fanfictions produced by the Harry Potter fan community and made available on this virtual social network. It's worth mentioning that, unlike the work from which these fanfictions were inspired, the ones dealt with here draw attention by bringing up the identity debate, more specifically, gender stereotypes, based on the concept of performativity. By changing the gender of the title character of the saga, Harry Potter, to female. This movement has been referred to in the literary field as gender-bender, which can include other forms of gender expression. The starting point for understanding is that fanfictions are an event of significant importance to consider social relations and identity constructions, as they are formed through a relationship with the community, both within and outside the global network. Writing is taken as a constitutive element of society, influenced by a long history of transformations and continuities up to the internet era. Therefore, the study of fanfictions is relevant to comprehend how internet mass culture affects textual production and the way society relates to fiction.