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.

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 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.

Katrina Gomez-Chua

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.

By Professor Marva Barnett