Fan track programming

Let’s talk costumes! From the stage musical to cosplay, from canon era to modern AU, the Les Mis characters have all donned a wide variety of outfits over the years that give us insight into who they are. You’ll be able to hear from some designers about their process, and you might even walk away with some tips and tricks for your latest cosplay.

Reset is a multimedia collaboration that explores the struggles of a modern-day Enjolras with a failed barricade and the hardships of coping with defeat. Come watch as canon era Enjolras guides him through the grieving process (with a little help from his friends), then stick around after to hear the collaborators (author ShitpostingFromTheBarricade, filmmaker TheCandlesticksFromLesMis, and artist ThePiecesOfCait) discuss the process behind developing and executing this project.

Survival alternate universe (AU) fics are a cornerstone of Les Mis fandom: full or partial Ami survival, post-Seine Valjean and Javert, reincarnation AUs, and AUs bridging the Old Man and Ami sides of fandom by including the larger cast. Two writers of multi-chapter survival AUs will discuss the opportunities and challenges of writing beyond the barricade: What opportunities do the characters have for new interactions and growth—and how do they deal with trauma and loss? How do historical events influence your choices—what do the characters do politically after 1832? What are the logistics of survival—for the characters, and for the author, picking who lives and who dies? And what does it do to the themes of Les Mis if more characters get to live and, maybe, finally, be happy!

How does Les Mis fit into the literature and society of the time in which it was published? In this panel we’ll take a look at how Romanticism came to France from Germany and England, and what makes up the themes and conventions of the movement. Other talking points include the Preface of Cromwell, Cenacle, Hernani, and Petit Cenacle, and of course, we’ll look at some examples from Les Mis itself.

From canon-era trans Enjolras fic to modern AU nonbinary Jean Prouvaire art, Les Mis fandom is full of fanworks and interpretations that advance trans readings of characters. In this panel discussion, we’ll talk about the textual passages that spark these ideas, the fanworks that use them, and the meaning that trans readers and fans take from them.

From Eugene Delacroix and Émile Bayard to show posters and fan art, we’ll take a look at how the imagery of Les Mis has evolved over the years. Following a presentation on art that inspired Victor Hugo, Hugo’s own art, and 19th-century illustrations, we’ll hear from a panel of contemporary fans and fan artists about representations of Les Mis for the 21st century.

So long as civilization artificially creates hells on earth, Hugo wrote in his preface, books like Les Misérables cannot fail to be useful. A century and a half later, the hells of poverty and injustice still persist on earth—and on the planet Laterre, the far-future setting for Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell’s System System Divine series, a young adult trilogy that reimagines Les Misérables in space. The coauthors will discuss how Hugo’s novel inspired their story and talk about translating its elements into science fiction, turning Javert into a ruthless cyborg, the slums of Paris into the remains of vast rusting spaceships, and the convent into a secret underground “Refuge” that protects the last remaining library of books from earth. Brody and Rendell will share their collaborative writing and editing practices and offer clues about the easter eggs hidden in the books for true Les Mis fans. Following the talk, Hugo scholar Prof. Marva Barnett will moderate a Q&A session.

Whether you are creating an entire universe or just want to add soulmates to your coffeeshop AU, worldbuilding can make or break your story. In this panel discussion, fanfic writers talk about why they choose the settings they do, how worldbuilding and characterization interact, and their favorite tips for writing memorable and believable worlds.

Plume En Scène is a French club proposing artistic workshops for all ages. The choir composed of children is proud to show you their work based on selected songs from the musical Les Miserables.

Victor Hugo’s admonition at the beginning of the book still applies specifically in the developing world. Gomez-Chua presents an exploration and personal perspective regarding the younger characters of Les Miserables and their story arcs (specifically Cosette, Marius, the Thenardier children, and the Amis de l’ABC) and how these themes resonate in the Global south, with specific comparison to the Philippines. Themes to be explored include feminism, popular activism, and youth at risk. Gomez-Chua will also explore why much fan-work/adaptation such as modern-day fic is not set in the developing world despite these thematic similarities to the novel.

Katrina Gomez-Chua

Les Misérables is a political story, touching on the lives of sex workers and incarcerated people; exploitation by society and oppression by the law; and people who take up arms to fight these injustices. How have fans of Les Mis taken its message of revolution and social justice to the modern world? In this panel discussion, we’ll talk about how the issues of Les Misérables look in today’s world; resonances between the story and fans’ own experiences in movements for social change; and ways to become involved in your own community.

How has the culture of fandom changed in the last two decades, and how does Les Mis fandom fit into that history? We’ll talk about the copyright concerns and fair use activism that have shaped the modern infrastructure of fandom, and how those do and don’t apply in a fandom based half on a public domain text and half on a blockbuster stage show. And we will probably digress–since what would a Les Mis con be without digressions–into reminiscence of long-past phases of fandom, as the panelists have all been here long enough to have traversed the revolutionary apocalypse many times.

“To love is to act.” Victor Hugo wrote these words three days before he died—and brought them to life in Les Misérables. Hugo shows what we can accomplish when we act out of a generous, humanitarian love that translates into positive action, a love deeply connected to conscience. We will look at how love shines through Bishop Myriel and Jean Valjean and how Hugo’s vision inspires both readers and Les Mis lovers. Insights I gained from interviewing artists who captured the novel’s heart in the famed musical—especially Les Mis creators Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, director Tom Hooper, and actor Hugh Jackman—will inform our investigation into Hugo’s persuasive power. And we will see how Hugo’s vision finds remarkable resonance in the words and deeds of modern social justice activists, including Bryan Stevenson, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and Shaka Senghor.  The contemporary relevance of Les Misérables is undeniable. 

By Professor Marva Barnett