Abstract
This article explores premodern prophecy as a form of transformative work with connections to contemporary fan fiction. This link is established in three ways: through the archontic nature of prophecy, through the prophet's self-insertion into the biblical text, and by viewing prophetic groups as textual communities marked by affective links to characters. These links are examined through a case study of two prophets, Richard Brothers (1757–1824) and Joanna Southcott (1750–1814), with the conflict between them reconceptualized as an affectively driven dispute over claims to character ownership. The article suggests that approaches from fan studies can offer useful perspectives for historians (and vice versa) while cautioning against overly arbitrary ahistorical comparisons between modern fandom and premodern groups.
Highlights
This article explores prophecy in the eighteenth and nineteenth century as a form of transformative work with connections to contemporary fan fiction
[1.1] The aim of this article is to explore the way in which prophecy in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, an emerging media age, can be viewed as a form of transformative work with analogies to fan fiction
[2.1] Studies of fan fiction have often pointed to historical precedents to contemporary fan practices, to the way in which characters from ancient myth and medieval romance were transferred into new narrative contexts (e.g. Pugh 2005, 13-15; Jamison 2013, 26-36; Keller 2011, Simonova 2012)
Summary
This article explores prophecy in the eighteenth and nineteenth century as a form of transformative work with connections to contemporary fan fiction. [1.1] The aim of this article is to explore the way in which prophecy in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, an emerging media age, can be viewed as a form of transformative work with analogies to fan fiction.
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