Dominant and vernacular literacies in a fanfictions workshop at school

Abstract

This article discusses the review practice of a fanfiction workshop that took place in a school during the second semester of 2014. In this workshop, students were responsible for writing their stories and reviewing their colleagues’ stories, constituting as a peer review. Taking into account the participatory culture theory and the definition of the fanfiction genre, it was possible to see that students, by positioning themselves as reviewers, were able to produce utterances related to the vernacular practices of the fan community. Likewise, this same group of subjects also produced utterances related to the dominant school practices, resulting in a hybrid context. Thus, it was found that, although the regulatory school institution influenced the students’ corrections, the situated and participatory aspect of the fanfictions production context was also present. Therefore, the dialogue between vernacular and dominant writing practices can be carried out in the school context.

Keywords: literacy practices, fanfictions, school practices.