Bracconaggio e palinsesto

The vast majority of erotic and pornographic texts are produced by and for men. Or are they? A closer look at textual productions outside the commercial mainstream reveals the existence of a vast reservoir of pornography by and for women--most of which portraying characters from popular films or TV series, recast as gay men. This essay explores such genre--known as 'slash'--in all its complexity, and situates it within contemporary post-modern literature. Far from being a bizarre and unexplicable curiosity, slash is a prominent example of the importance, and at the same time invisibility, of female-centered (sub)culture. My essay considers the socio-cultural context of slash, from its roots in popular culture and fandom to its intertextual nature to its role within a particular Anglo-american tradition of amateur writing. I put forth the proposition that slash should be read as a legitimate and pominent literary genre, going beyond both Frankfurtian snobberies and anthropological reductionism."