English

Etymology
Originally "filk music" was a typo for "folk music" in a never-published essay on the influence of Science Fiction and Fantasy on folk music. Its first known deliberate use was by Karen Kruse Anderson in Die Zeitschrift für Vollstandigen Unsinn (The Journal for Utter Nonsense) #774 (June 1953), for a song written by the well known science fiction author Poul Anderson. By the 1970s, it was described as a blended word, coined from folk music and filched or borrowed tunes, as most filk-tunes are parodies to well known tunes. To this day, there are bardic circles of filk-singers internationally, at conventions and other gatherings of science fiction aficionados.

Adjective
en-adj|-

1. context|of music About or inspired by science fiction, fantasy, horror, science, and/or subjects of interest to fans of speculative fiction; frequently, being a song whose lyrics have been altered to refer to science fiction; parodying.

#* 2000, Camille Bacon-Smith, Science Fiction Culture,^¹ University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 0-8122-1530-3, page 38,
#*: And the permanent exhibit area offers a filk performance on a small stage so that neophytes can sample more esoteric interests.
#* 2006, w:PartiallyClips|Robert T. Balder, quoted in w:Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists|Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists,^² w:Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing|Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing, ISBN 1-56163-465-4, page 97,
#*: I�m also involved in what is called filk music. This is music for and by fans of Fantasy and Science Fiction. [�] Filk is nearly as big a part of my creative life as comics, and I have similarly made many friends among the creative people in that community.
#* 2007, Brian Longhurst, Popular Music and Society,^³ Polity, ISBN 0745631622, page 236,
#*: Music can be very important in fan texts and activities. Fans write and perform songs at gatherings about characters from television shows, not unlike the way that folk songs are sung in folk clubs. This can be seen in the name of this fan form: filk song. According to w:Henry Jenkins|Jenkins [in Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture], filk songs take their cue from commercial culture. They are about the characters from commercial television series, but �Filk turns commercial culture back into folk culture, existing as a mediator between two musical traditions. Its raw materials come from commercial culture; its logic is from folk culture� (1992: 270).

Noun
en-noun|-

1. Filk music.

#* 1992, w:Henry Jenkins|Henry Jenkins, Textual Poachers: Television Fans & Participatory Culture,^⁴ Routledge, ISBN 0-415-90572-9, page 270,
#*: Filk turns commercial culture back into folk culture, existing as a mediator between two musical traditions. Its raw materials come from commercial culture; its logic is from folk culture.
#* 2006, Gary Hill, The Strange Sound of Cthulhu: Music Inspired by the Writings of w:H.P. Lovecraft|H.P. Lovecraft,^⁵ Lulu.com, ISBN 1-84728-776-X, page 216,
#*: The style of music generally used for creating filk is folk or popular music. That brings up one of the key points. Most, but not all, filk is created by "borrowing" the music of other songs and creating lyrics to fit the singer's particular circle of fandom.
#* 2006, w:PartiallyClips|Robert T. Balder, quoted in w:Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists|Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists,^⁶ w:Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing|Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing, ISBN 1-56163-465-4, page 97,
#*: I�m also involved in what is called filk music. This is music for and by fans of Fantasy and Science Fiction. [�] Filk is nearly as big a part of my creative life as comics, and I have similarly made many friends among the creative people in that community.

See also
folk music
pedialite|filk music

• 2007-10-28 01:57 - Ruakh - RFV passed.

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