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Jun. 25th, 2004 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
heidiThis probably isn't the best day to start up a discussion, so I am going to cross-post this on FictionAlley; if you can't comment here, you can post there if you want to.
So, now, a few thoughts on
There's been some discussion on LJs and on FA recently - as well as a long, long time ago - about what makes an anachronism.
Merriam-Webster defines it as an error in chronology; especially : a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other, or a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place.
People have called JKR's mention of Dudley having a playstation an anachronism; it might be, but then, it might not, as they were introduced on a limited scale in the Spring of 1994 in Japan, and were technically available, although at very exorbitant prices. A year later, they were easily available in the UK, though, so she's not really off by too much.
It would be, under that definition, an anachronism for Lily Evans to listen to Britney Spears sing "Hit Me Baby One More Time" - but Britney did not write that song, and the wizarding world is not exactly like our own. If you want to incorporate that song into a story, then why not toss in an offhand explanation that it had been written as a folk song by some random wizard back in 1968 to protest capitalist hegemony? If you're creative, you can explain anything that's outside of place and time - or just incorporate it creatively, like they did in Ella Enchanted (no, Freddie Mercury did not exist in Ella's world, but his song certainly did!). It depends, of course, on the mood of your story - but if you treat something anachronistic like it's natural and an organic element of your universe, like Mutton, Lettuce & Tomato sandwich that Miracle Max seeks in The Princess Bride, it's going to work, at least for those who are willing to get caught up in magic.
I like realistic and well researched fics as much as anyone, though, and when I'm looking to make something realistic, I personally look to see whether it is possible that someone had, did or saw something. Hermione might've been listening to CDs when her letter from Hogwarts arrived; she might've been watching laser discs, although it's not likely as they weren't especially popular except among cinema geeks (I dated one in 1993, which is how I know this timeframe). She was not watching a DVD, and she certainly wasn't watching Titanic. Or Star Wars. But it *is* possible for Harry, two or three years after finishing Hogwarts, to watch Star Wars on a DVD, even though they haven't been released yet; people have illegally burned the films onto DVDs, so it is *technically* possible to watch them now. Bad, illegal, and possible.
When I saw the pics of Hermione in her pink hoodie and rainbow belt, I thought that it showed her lack on interest in current fashions - my gosh, I remember when those *were* fashionable.
In 1981.
So it's, again, not anachronistic, because pink hoodies did exist in 1994, but it might not send the exact message you want to make. Or you may just be Alfonso Cuaron, and setting your story, because of some insane decision by Chris Columbus, in 2003 instead of 1994. And then we'll all just say "whatever*.
Now, what do you think? What makes something anachronistic to you? Is it implausibility in the Muggle world? Is it impossibility in the Muggle world, combined with an absence of an explanation as to how it is possible in the Wizarding world?
What is it? And what do you do about it?
So, now, a few thoughts on
There's been some discussion on LJs and on FA recently - as well as a long, long time ago - about what makes an anachronism.
Merriam-Webster defines it as an error in chronology; especially : a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other, or a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place.
People have called JKR's mention of Dudley having a playstation an anachronism; it might be, but then, it might not, as they were introduced on a limited scale in the Spring of 1994 in Japan, and were technically available, although at very exorbitant prices. A year later, they were easily available in the UK, though, so she's not really off by too much.
It would be, under that definition, an anachronism for Lily Evans to listen to Britney Spears sing "Hit Me Baby One More Time" - but Britney did not write that song, and the wizarding world is not exactly like our own. If you want to incorporate that song into a story, then why not toss in an offhand explanation that it had been written as a folk song by some random wizard back in 1968 to protest capitalist hegemony? If you're creative, you can explain anything that's outside of place and time - or just incorporate it creatively, like they did in Ella Enchanted (no, Freddie Mercury did not exist in Ella's world, but his song certainly did!). It depends, of course, on the mood of your story - but if you treat something anachronistic like it's natural and an organic element of your universe, like Mutton, Lettuce & Tomato sandwich that Miracle Max seeks in The Princess Bride, it's going to work, at least for those who are willing to get caught up in magic.
I like realistic and well researched fics as much as anyone, though, and when I'm looking to make something realistic, I personally look to see whether it is possible that someone had, did or saw something. Hermione might've been listening to CDs when her letter from Hogwarts arrived; she might've been watching laser discs, although it's not likely as they weren't especially popular except among cinema geeks (I dated one in 1993, which is how I know this timeframe). She was not watching a DVD, and she certainly wasn't watching Titanic. Or Star Wars. But it *is* possible for Harry, two or three years after finishing Hogwarts, to watch Star Wars on a DVD, even though they haven't been released yet; people have illegally burned the films onto DVDs, so it is *technically* possible to watch them now. Bad, illegal, and possible.
When I saw the pics of Hermione in her pink hoodie and rainbow belt, I thought that it showed her lack on interest in current fashions - my gosh, I remember when those *were* fashionable.
In 1981.
So it's, again, not anachronistic, because pink hoodies did exist in 1994, but it might not send the exact message you want to make. Or you may just be Alfonso Cuaron, and setting your story, because of some insane decision by Chris Columbus, in 2003 instead of 1994. And then we'll all just say "whatever*.
Now, what do you think? What makes something anachronistic to you? Is it implausibility in the Muggle world? Is it impossibility in the Muggle world, combined with an absence of an explanation as to how it is possible in the Wizarding world?
What is it? And what do you do about it?
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re: anachronisms
Date: 2004-06-30 04:21 am (UTC)I would like, ideally, to have those anachronisms explained. It can be a time-hole, re-inventing of things, famous muggles suddenly turning out to be wizards - whatever explanation would do, actually.
When the work is otherwise "flawless" or has strong points that pull the whole thing up or has a capturing plot, I guess the reader is more or less ready to close their eyes on certain anachronisms. I, for one, was not offended with playstation or the fact that in the first movie they have shown cars that could not exist in 1991; to tell the truth, Ron and Harry talking through the closed window and Neville fainting during the Herbology lesson in CoS movie bothered me much more than "anachronistic" errors.
However, when we speak about fandom, we must speak about its extreme competitiveness, too. Of course, "competitive advantage" of one author does not mean that the reader will only stick to this particular WIP, but fanfic writers should realize that there are 24 hours in one day and there are just so many fics out of thousands that one can read (or just consider) in this time. I don't really think that anachronisms only turn one's attention away from the piece of work, guess it's the general carelessness of a writer that does the trick. One more reason to find a good beta. ;-)