125th Anniversary Scholarship for Black British Researchers - Fanfic in the Archive: Ephemera, Ethics, Engagement

This project engages with a paradox: self-published and fanfiction communities and archives have historically been marginalised in academic research and library collection policies, yet also power Internet Search. Under-studied and under-archived in institutional contexts, the productions of fanfic online communities have nevertheless been accessioned into the datasets of Google Bert and other LLMs to optimise commercial Search and Generative AI technologies. This is often experienced as traumatic by communities who prioritise collaborative conceptions of authorship, compensation, attribution, etc. In this context, many fanfiction communities are reluctant to engage with institutional archiving or Legal Deposit, rejecting principles of ownership among mainstream publishers and cultural heritage collections, while remaining subject to voracious tech industry appropriation. Furthermore, fan archives are ephemeral entities, reliant on free labour for maintenance and subject to the notoriously swift obsolescence of technological platforms. This ephemerality is particularly stark for initiatives set apart from well-resourced archives such as AO3. For example, 'Remember Us?', launched in 2002 to tackle the dominant whiteness of much fanfiction, became defunct in 2009, while activist projects such as dark_agenda are fragmented across tags that fall from use as instigators move on. This project addresses under-representation of fanfiction archives within national collections and lack of formal recognition of communities’ expertise, practices and tools. It will explore the ramifications of ephemeral archives and appropriation in a case study of fanfiction by and about Black British people, develop engagement and deposit strategies, and acknowledge fans’ significance in powering commercial knowledge-production while their voices, practices, and legal claims are too often ignored in debates that shape national policy and law:

• What are the challenges and rewards of incorporating fanfiction in institutional archives?
• How do Black British fanfiction authors and audiences preserve inclusive community spaces and/or navigate white-mainstream archives?
• How can the contribution of fanfiction authors and audiences be formally acknowledged while retaining core principles of collaboration, anonymity and provocation?

This project will utilise an interdisciplinary approach, engaging with disciplines such as Literary Studies, Digital Cultures, Black Studies, Media History, Library Science and Cultural Heritage. The project will be supervised by Dr Rebecca Roach and Dr Dorothy Butchard, based in the Department of English Literature, and supported by the Stuart Hall Archive Project and Centre for Digital Cultures at the University of Birmingham. The student will also have access to staff expertise and training at the British Library and undergo a placement there during the course of the PhD.

You can find more information via the above ‘Apply’ button.

Funding Details

Additional Funding Information

The University of Birmingham is proud to celebrate its remarkable 125-year journey and announce the launch of a groundbreaking scholarship initiative designed to empower and support Black British researchers in their pursuit of doctoral education.

These newly established 3.5-year scholarships aim to address underrepresentation and create opportunities for talented individuals from diverse backgrounds to excel in academia. You can find out more here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research/funding/black-british-researchers-scholarship

Closing Date: 30/04/2025

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