The Creativity and Community Behind Fanfiction | Cecilia Aragon | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

So when I was 10 years old,

我十歲時，

I was a lonely, geeky girl;

我是個寂寞的怪咖女孩。

a first-generation Latina growing up in a small Midwestern town

第一代拉丁美洲裔美國人，

在中西部小鎮上長大，

where hardly anyone else had parents who spoke with thick accents.

在那裡幾乎沒有其他人的父母 說話會有濃濃的口音。

But then I came across Tolkien’s fantasy trilogy,

但，接著，我偶然發現了 托爾金的奇幻三部曲，

“The Lord of the Rings,”

《魔戒》，

and I fell in love.

我愛上了它。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

What a cool world of elves,

好酷的世界，有精靈、半獸人，

orcs

and small but heroic hobbits fighting against impossible odds

還有嬌小但英勇的哈比人，

即使勝算渺茫也奮力一搏，

to defeat a powerful enemy.

打敗強大的敵人。

Kind of like life.

和人生蠻像的。

But one thing bothered me.

但有一點讓我很困擾。

There weren’t enough female characters in this book.

這本書裡面的女性角色不夠多。

The adventurers accompanying the protagonists were all male.

陪伴主角群去冒險的夥伴 通通都是男性。

It made me feel left out,

那讓我覺得被忽視了，

like I did in school when --

就如同我在學校的情況，那時——

you’re not going to believe this --

你們不會相信的——

when my 7th grade teacher told me,

那時，我的七年級老師告訴我：

“Why are you working so hard in math?

「你為什麼這麼用功讀數學？

You should be getting a boyfriend!”

你應該去交個男朋友！」

(Audience boos)

（觀眾發出噓聲）

But worse, it offended my sense of fairness.

但，更糟糕的是， 那冒犯了我的公平感。

Surely girls could have adventures too.

女孩當然也能冒險。

So what could I do?

所以，我能怎麼辦？

I sat down with my spiral notebook

我坐下來，拿出我的線圈筆記本，

and I rewrote the story.

把故事改寫！

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

I regendered a couple of the main characters,

我調整了幾個主要角色的性別，

and I added new scenes,

我也添加了新橋段， 其中一段是一個女哈比人

like one where a female hobbit devised a clever plan

想出了一個聰明的計畫來擊退炎魔，

to foil the Balrog,

a monster who caused the death of one of my favorite characters.

這怪物害死了我最 喜歡的其中一個角色。

By reimagining Tolkien’s fantasy world,

透過重新想像托爾金的奇幻世界，

I was creating a place

我創造一個地方

where someone like me could feel at home.

讓我這樣的人也覺得舒適自在。

Writing my story gave me comfort.

寫故事是我的慰藉。

But it also taught me a lot about how to write.

但我也從中學了很多寫作技巧。

I never shared that spiral notebook with anyone.

我從來沒有把那本 線圈筆記本給別人看過。

But what I didn’t realize then

但，我當時並不知道，

was I was writing something called fanfiction --

我在寫的就是同人小說——

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

a story based on characters or settings from another’s work ...

也就是：以他人作品的角色 或場景為基礎所寫的故事……

and that I was not alone.

且我不是唯一這麼做的人。

It was an experience I never forgot.

那是我永遠無法忘記的經驗。

And many years later,

多年後，

after I became a data science professor at the University of Washington

在我成了華盛頓大學的 資料科學教授之後，

in 2013,

在 2013 年，

I met another professor named Katie Davis,

我認識了另一名教授， 凱蒂‧戴維斯，

and we sat down over lunch

我們一起吃午餐，討論 最近有一篇新聞報導聲稱

and discussed a recent news story

that claimed “kids today can’t write,

「現今的孩子不會寫作，

all they produce is misspelled short texts.”

他們只會產出錯字一堆的短文字。」

Katie and I didn’t believe it.

凱蒂和我不相信如此。

We both knew kids whose writing abilities defied these stereotypes.

我們都認識一些孩子，

寫作能力完全超出那些刻板印象。

What’s more, the talented young people we happened to know

此外，我們碰巧認識的年輕才子

all had heavy involvement in fanfiction reading and writing.

都在同人小說的閱讀 和撰寫上投入不少功夫。

這明顯的矛盾，

So this apparent contradiction sparked our exploration

促使我們把這些探討發展

into one of my most enduring research projects:

成為我最持久的研究專案計畫之一：

a deep data dive

深入同人小說

into the vast world of fanfiction

廣大世界的資料鑽研，

to study the impact

研究撰寫這類故事

that writing these stories could have on the writers themselves,

對於作者本身的影響，

and whether writing fanfiction could actually teach kids

以及撰寫同人小說是否真的能

教導孩子成為更強的作家。

to become stronger writers.

And what we found surpassed anything I could have imagined.

我們的發現遠超過我的想像。

So let me set the stage.

讓我先幫大家鋪路。

For those of you who haven’t heard the term before,

如果你以前沒有聽過這個詞，

fanfiction,

同人小說，

sometimes known as transformative literature,

有時被稱為轉化文學，

is said by some to go back centuries.

有些人認為可追溯到數世紀以前。

After all, in the 1600s,

畢竟，在 1600 年代，

John Milton wrote “Paradise Lost” using characters from the Bible.

約翰‧米爾頓用聖經的角色 寫了《失樂園》。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But today, scholars generally feel

但現今，學者通常認為

that modern fanfiction traces its origins to typewritten zines

現代同人小說的起源是 1960、1970 年代

written by “Star Trek” fans in the ‘60s and’ 70s.

《星際爭霸戰》粉絲 用打字機打出的雜誌。

And with the growth of the internet,

隨著網際網路的成長，

barriers to sharing have been lowered further.

分享的障礙變得更低了。

Millions of people are writing and sharing fan fiction

有數百萬人透過許多網站， 撰寫、分享同人小說，

on a variety of websites

around existing plots like “Harry Potter,”

用到各種作品的既有情節， 比如《哈利波特》、

“Twilight,”

《暮光之城》、

“Naruto,”

《火影忍者》、

“My Little Pony” --

《彩虹小馬》——（笑聲）

(Laughter)

and “Pokémon”

以及《寶可夢》，和許多其他的。

and many others.

You probably have a teenage relative or neighbor

你可能就有個十多歲的親戚或鄰居

who reads or writes fanfiction.

會閱讀或撰寫同人小說。

These stories are wildly diverse

這類故事五花八門，

and may be creative, thoughtful or hilarious.

有的有創意，

有的很有想法，有的很好笑。

You might find titles like,

可能會看到這樣的名稱：

“When Harry Potter Accidentally Started a Cult.”

《當哈利波特不小心創始了異教》

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Or, “Five Times Hermione Snogged Harry --

或者《妙麗給哈利的五次擁吻——

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And One Time She Didn’t.”

以及沒吻的那一次》。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

The sheer quantity of fanfiction that’s been produced is astonishing.

同人小說的產生非常驚人。

In the past 20 years alone,

光是在過去二十年，

over 60 billion words of fanfiction have been written

有超過六百億字的同人小說 被撰寫出來並刊登在

and posted on a single online site:

單一個網站上：fanfiction.net。

fanfiction.net,

which is only one of many fanfiction hubs.

它只是許多同人小說 集散中心的其中一個。

Now compare that with the amount of fiction written in the English language

把這個數字拿來比對

整個人類歷史上以傳統方式

that’s been traditionally published

出版的英文小說總量……

in all of human history ...

80 billion.

八百億字。

So this is an incredible outpouring of creativity.

有這麼大量的創意展現，相當驚人。

And on this site, it's written primarily by young people.

且在這個網站上， 作家多半都是年輕人。

This site’s 15 million members write in 44 different languages,

這個網站有一千五百萬名會員，

用四十四種語言寫作，

and their median age is 15 and a half.

年齡的中位數是十五歲半。

Most of the authors are between 13 and 21,

大部分的作家年齡 介於十三歲到二十二歲，

and most are teenage girls.

且大部分都是青少女。

73 percent identify as female,

73% 是女性，

and interestingly,

且，有趣的是，

more fanfiction authors identify as gender nonconforming than male.

非常規性別的作家比男性還多。

Authors we interviewed told us they wrote fan fiction

我們訪問的作家告訴我們， 他們撰寫同人小說是因為

because they love the characters and worlds.

他們熱愛那些角色和世界。

And over and over again,

且，一而再再而三，

they told us how much they learned about writing

他們都提到參與這些社群對他們

from participating in these communities.

學習寫作的幫助有多大。

Here’s an example.

舉個例子。

One author told us she started writing fanfiction at age 13

一位作家告訴我們， 她從十三歲開始寫作，

when she had this intense crush on a fictional character.

因為她迷戀上了一個虛構角色。

(Sighs)

（笑）這讓她在同人小說中 用到像這樣的措辭：

It led her to write fanfiction with phrases like

“gorgeous cerulean orbs”, or

「讓人流口水的藍眼睛」，或

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

“manly hunks of muscle.”

「超猛的大肌肌」。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Kind of embarrassing.

蠻不好意思的。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And she told us,

她告訴我們：

“But reviewers were kind enough

「但審稿人很仁慈，

to be positive about my amateurish fangirl postings,

正面看待我的外行迷妹貼文，

mostly because they also like this character.

主要是因為他們也喜歡這個角色。

But they also pointed out my uses of clichés and overwriting.

但他們也指出我的問題包括 用到陳詞濫調以及寫太多。

As a result, I learned to be sensitive to these types of bad writing.

因此，我學會對這些 不好的寫作方式保持敏感度。

Today, I publish original fiction,

現在，當我刊登原創小說時，

and no one has ever called me out on a florid writing style.”

沒有人會批評我的文章詞藻堆砌。」

她的結論是：

She concluded with,

“I think if a teacher had simply red-pencilied my childish scribbles,

「我想，如果老師就只是 用紅筆修改我幼稚的草率創作，

I might have been so discouraged as to never write again.”

我可能會很灰心， 就再也不寫作了。」

Another author,

另一位作家，她後來 成了我們的學生，

who later became our student,

told us that she learned about spelling and grammar while writing fan fiction.

她告訴我們，她在寫 同人小說時學到拼字和文法。

But she also told us,

但她也告訴我們：

“When I started writing fanfiction at age 13,

「當我十三歲開始寫同人小說時，

I was a queer, autistic middle-schooler

我是個怪異、自閉的中學生，

當時還不明白， 我既不怪異也不自閉。

who hadn’t yet realized I was either of these things.

I had difficulty with social situations.

我很不擅長面對社交情境。

Fanfiction communities were a vital social and learning outlet.”

同人小說社群是很重要的 社交及學習出口。」

Today she’s done something that few undergraduates ever have.

現在，她做到了沒幾位 大學生做得到的事。

她以第一作者的身分 在頂尖的研討會上

She’s published a first author academic paper in a top-rated venue.

發表了一篇學術論文。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

After studying many individual writers’ stories over time,

隨時間，研究了許多 個別作家的故事之後，

we came to see that these personal stories were consistent with the data,

我們漸漸發現，

這些個人故事和資料很一致。

The young writers’ use of words grew more diverse

年輕作家在接到更多審核評論之後，

as they received more reviews.

用字遣詞也更多元了。

So how did these kids learn

所以，這些孩子怎麼學習？

and from whom?

向誰學習？

To find out,

為了找答案，我們更深入去研究

we did a deeper dive into mentoring in fanfiction communities.

同人小說社群中的指導方式。

Now, we expected to find traditional mentor-mentee pairs,

我們預期會發現傳統的 指導者—被指導者配對。

older or more experienced authors mentoring younger

較年長或經驗較豐富的作家

指導較年輕或經驗較少的作家，

or less experienced ones.

But what we found was completely different.

但我們的發現截然不同。

We found millions of authors and readers communicating

我們發現有數百萬名作者和讀者

透過多重管道在溝通，

via multiple channels

and reviewing each other’s work

審閱彼此的作品，

regardless of experience level.

不論經驗等級高低。

People of all ages listening to and reviewing each other’s stories.

各種年齡的人會去聽、

去審閱彼此的故事。

This was so cool we had to give it a name,

這太酷了，我們非給它 取個名字不可，

so we call it “distributed mentoring”.

所以我們稱之為「分散式指導」。

You can also think of it as nanomentoring.

也可以把它想成是奈米指導。

Each piece of mentoring is tiny on its own,

每一個指導本身都很渺小，

但當它們全部結合起來時， 就遠比各部份的總合還強大。

but the combination of all of it is much greater than the sum of its parts.

A key attribute of distributed mentoring is its abundance.

分散式指導的一項關鍵特徵

就是它的充足性。

One author we interviewed,

我們訪問的一位作家會寫

who wrote both traditionally published fiction and fan fiction,

傳統出版的小說 及同人小說，她告訴我們，

told us that she received more feedback in a single week

她的同人小說

在一星期內收到的回饋意見

on her fanfiction

than she did in two years on her published novel.

比她出版的小說 在兩年內收到的還多。

It’s a difference not only of degree

不只是程度差別，也是類型差別。

but also of kind.

By itself, a single comment on a story such as, “loved it,”

對一個故事而言， 一句話式的意見，比如

「很喜歡」，

is relatively meaningless,

相對是沒什麼意義的，

but hundreds or thousands provide valuable feedback.

但有成千上百個人 提供寶貴的回饋意見。

Like ...

比如……

“I like the ambiguity of your ending --

「我喜歡你採用模稜兩可的結局——

it leaves me feeling hopeful,”

讓我感到很有希望。」

and others like these.

還有很多這類的意見。

Reviewers build on and reference each other’s comments.

審稿者會吸收學習 和參考彼此的意見，

This enables authors to piece together

這讓作家可以

拼湊出別人對他們作品的整體觀點，

an overall view of their writing that’s supportive as well as constructive.

且有幫助又具有建設性。

We found only one percent of comments constituted bullying.

我們發現只有 1% 的

意見內容與霸凌有關。

And these are anonymous.

且意見是匿名的。

This is a surprisingly low number,

這個比例低得驚人，

as anybody who has read comments on an internet platform knows.

如果你在網路平台上 看過留言區就知道了。

What’s more,

此外，我們發現，大部分意見

we found the supportive nature of most of these comments was critical

都很有助益，這種本質 對於寫作發展十分重要。

in writing development.

One author, who was Black,

有一名黑人作家

made all the characters from a popular TV show Black.

把一個知名電視節目的 角色全改為黑人。

She got comments filled with readers’ sense of freedom

她得到的意見中滿是

讀者的自由意識，

and delight from reading her story.

以及閱讀她的故事的愉悅感。

It not only encouraged her to keep writing,

那不僅鼓勵她繼續寫作，

it gave her the conviction that what she was doing was worthwhile.

也讓她有信心，知道 自己在做值得的事。

And so through this research,

所以，

透過這項研究，

Katie and I found ourselves

凱蒂和我發現我們

not only believing that, yes, kids can be good writers,

不僅相信，是的，孩子 可以成為很好的作家，

but also that fanfiction

也相信，同人小說以及分散式指導

and distributed mentoring could be used in formal education.

可以被用在正式教育中。

A report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress

國家教育進展評測的一份報告

found that a whopping 73 percent of US students

發現

八年級和十二年級的美國學生，

in grades eight and 12 lack proficiency in writing.

有高達 73% 的寫作能力不足。

Research has shown that adolescence is a wonderful time

研究顯示青春期

非常適合

用來改善寫作技巧，

to improve your writing skills,

and the popularity of fanfiction in this age group shows

而在這個年齡層當中， 同人小說的流行程度

顯示有個大好機會可以 用同人小說當作學習工具。

what an opportunity there is to use it as a learning tool.

So here's how I'm imagining it.

所以，以下是我想像中的狀況。

Students with similar interests from school districts across the country

全國各學區中興趣相近的學生

could be connected with one another to get and give anonymous feedback

可以彼此連結，

針對他們的寫作作品取得／ 給予匿名回饋意見。

on their writing.

It must be anonymous.

必須要是匿名的。

I know this from personal experience.

這是我從個人經驗的體會。

Teachers could moderate the channels to make sure feedback was constructive,

老師可以管理這些管道， 確保回饋意見都是有建設性的，

as well as helping students learn from it.

也可以協助學生從意見中學習。

If this work grew burdensome for teachers,

若這項工作對老師的負擔開始變重，

hierarchical moderation could help,

階層式管理會有幫助，

which is a system where members themselves can report negative

在這種制度下，

成員本身可以舉報 負面或辱罵的意見，

or abusive comments,

and volunteer moderators from among the students could decide

由學生自願擔任的管理者

則可以決定要刪除哪些意見，

which ones to delete,

with teachers weighing in only when necessary.

必要的時候老師才需要介入。

This technique is used in many large, online communities,

許多大型線上社群都採用這個方法，

and lots of adolescents are familiar with it.

許多青少年／女都很熟悉它。

Fanfiction is a private universe that’s become a welcoming community,

同人小說是個私人宇宙，

且它已經變成一個好客的社群，

particularly for those from marginalized groups.

對於來自邊緣族群的人 而言更是如此。

This vast and vibrant resource

這種浩瀚且充滿生氣的資源

for kids who have something to say

造福了有話想說的孩子，

is especially meaningful to me

它對我有很特別的意義，

when I contrast it with the isolation I encountered

我會拿它來對比 我這個拉丁美洲裔孩子

growing up Latina in the US.

在美國長大時遇到的孤立。

And sometimes

有時候，

I wonder what would have been different in my own life,

我會想，我的人生本來 可能會有什麼不同，

and maybe in many other people’s lives,

也許，許多其他人的人生 也會有所不同，

if only we could have access to this supportive community

若在孩提時期我們也有

這種支持性的社群，

of millions of young people

由數百萬年輕人和他們的 分散式指導組成的社群，

and their distributing mentoring

as kids.

該有多好。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause and cheers)

（掌聲及歡呼）