The Construction of Race in Les Misérables Fanworks

By analyzing contemporary Les Misrables online fandom how can we conceptualize fandom racism especially when it complicates the typical and sometimes reductive narratives that assign racism to only the bad and the conservative other?Victor Hugo''s Les Misrables is a well-adapted novel with films television shows anime and stage productions constantly bringing new fans into the fold. Fans of these adaptations use the political text as a breeding ground for contemporary political conversations about socio-economic inequality republicanism and gendered violence. Yet in these conversations race is an awkward silenced topic. This primer presents findings from the author''s study of a decade of Les Misrables fanart in which they catalogue the formulation of racial identity in the fandom. Citing interviews with fans of color they discuss the mechanics of how fandoms leverage concepts of diversity to downplay and ultimately silence criticisms in the name of fandom hegemony. They argue that despite using Hugo''s barricade boys to process their white guilt fan artists often see race as skin-deep and non-specific rarely as active cultural or ethnic identities. This study of fan racism is held around moments of racial characterization that have convinced fans of color that nothing changes nothing ever will.In looking at a fandom whose key principles are liberty justice and social equality this research provides a base for future researchers and fans to have frank conversations about the subtle and thus more pernicious forms of racism that exist within fan spaces.