A really low-rent pop-culture version of pseudoepigrapha might be fan fiction, or "fanfic." Here, the sacred ideas of such oracular figures as Gene Roddenberry or George Lucas are perpetuated by fans who write stories about the manners on Chewbacca's world, or Lieutenant Uhuru's years at the Academy. Often a science fiction writer creates a world or characters so popular that lesser writers can make a few bucks off them--I'm thinking of the Man-Kzin Wars books, based on Larry Niven's writings. Strangely, this copycat-ism may guarantee Homer-like immortality for genre authors, while more highbrow literary figures drop away; it's hard to imagine fanfic based on Saul Bellow or John Updike.
|
- Tom Moody 2-27-2001 8:25 am