This very brief analysis of the history of German fan fiction, as well as the results of our cursory comparison of the exclusively German-language archive FanFiktion.de and the international Archive of Our Own, suggest that fandoms, fan practices, and fannish affections are complex and heterogeneous. Generalizing assumptions about an (imagined) unity in a specific fan fiction community are highly questionable. There is not, for example, a single Harry Potter fan fiction community but rather numerous ones that differ in their sets of rules, the socialization and education of their members, and the popularity of certain characters, pairings, tropes, or genres. In addition, political, historical, economic, and legal factors influence a national fan fiction history.

Cuntz-Leng, Vera, and Jacqueline Meintzinger. 2015. “A Brief History of Fan Fiction in Germany.” In “European Fans and European Fan Objects: Localization and Translation,” edited by Anne Kustritz, special issue, Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 19. (via fanhackers)

Years ago, I wanted to create Fanlore pages for each country to help highlight fan contributions, involvement, and practices. I also toyed with the idea of creating subsections by language within a specific fandom page. But that was shot down because it was felt that it would be two divisive. I am still fascinated with how fans in other countries do things the same as well as how they do things differently.And I would love to be able to go to one page to learn all about the fan creativity and contributions from Greece, Malaysia, or Kenya.