Talk:Carl Brandon Society

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Does the use of a pseudonym "create" a fictional character, as in "the fictional male writer James Tiptree, Jr.?" For instance, I don't believe there are many who would say that George Sand was "fictional." I'd like to rephrase the paragraph that mentions Carl Brandon and Tiptree to use the word "pseudonym," but I'm uncertain how to approch it. AdmN 05:43, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)

In this particular case, I think it's appropriate, because Alice Sheldon created an entire persona for "Tip" (as his buddies called him). "Tip" was a hoax, one in which many people believed and whose unveiling left some of them hurt or disappointed; just as happened when "Carl Brandon" was revealed as fictitious.--Orange Mike 23:15, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Some information on just who or what Carl Brandon is supposed to be would provide some welcome context here! -Toptomcat 01:51, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

From some of the organizers of the Society: "We named ourselves after the fictional fan of color "Carl Brandon, Jr." created in the mid-1950s by Terry Carr and Peter Graham. They used that construct to explore concepts of race within the pages of the influential FANAC fanzine, which Carr co-edited, during a time when the landscape of speculative fiction was decidedly monotone." [1] Ron Ellik and Dave Rike also contributed to the hoax, establishing a full-blown persona and biography for Carl which explained why local fans never seemed to meet up with him in person (I think he had family responsibilities and lived in a 'bad' part of town). As a fannish reference work puts it, "Carl Brandon's specialty was writing full-scale fannish parodies that went quite a bit beyond pastiche; they were close to word-for-word 'translations' of certain mundane works into fannish. Brandon's parody of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, for example, has Holden Caufield getting kicked out of FAPA rather than an exclusive boarding school, living in a slan shack instead of a dormitory, interacting with other fans rather than school mates and faculty &c. By elevating fannish concerns to such levels, the works often served as effective satires as well." [2]

--Orange Mike 13:27, 12 September 2007 (UTC)