;)
A Brief Introduction to Fan Theory
Saturday, June 5, 2010 at 11:19AM by Abigail de Kosnik (Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley)
The digital age has facilitated an explosion of fandom, as millions of people gather online to watch their favorite videos, comment on their favorite political and lifestyle blogs, and circulate images of their favorite celebrities/texts/products. But well before the personal computer, the Internet, the Web, or any mobile device were components of everyday life for large portions of the U.S. population, a strand of academic scholarship called "fan theory" was studying what ordinary people were doing (with pen and paper, cloth and scissors, and many other non-/pre-digital technologies) to express their emotional responses to the consumer commodities that surround them, and from which they are daily asked to choose.
One of the most influential early theorists of fandom was Dick Hebdige, the British sociologist and media theorist currently on faculty at UC Santa Barbara, whose 1979 book Subculture: The Meaning of Style defended what were thought of as frivolous and irrelevant choices - what clothes to wear, what kinds of music to listen to, how to do one's hair - as highly meaningful and crucial to many people's sense of identity. Style, argued Hebdige, is often "a form of Refusal" - that is, refusal to "fit in" with what was perceived as homogenous "mass culture." Even if the styles that people adopted as tools for self-expression were derived from mass culture (punk rock music, youth gang films), those mass-produced objects were still highly useful in helping people to display themselves as unique individuals.
Another major pioneer of fan theory was Henry Jenkins, a professor of media studies at USC, whose 1992 book Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture emphasized that fans are not wholly or always or purely admirers of their favorite commodities. Fandom is motivated by both "fascination" and "frustration," Jenkins said. Fans of a certain TV show, for instance, usually deeply love that TV series, but also are constantly annoyed that the show is not giving them enough of what they want, or is developing (over the years that it airs) in different directions than the fans would wish. This simultaneous feeling of being attracted to and angered by the object of fandom is precisely what makes fans want to actively work on those objects, by writing letters to the TV show's producers or network, or by writing alternate storylines for the show in "fan fiction," or by sharing their criticisms and commentary with other fans.
Sarah Thornton, a sociologist and widely-read writer on topics related to art and the art market, wrote a book called Club Cultures: Music, Media, and Subcultural Capital in 1996 that illustrated how fans of a given object (Thornton was studying electronic music and the club scene) gathered to form "taste cultures," in which they prioritized their consumption of common media, their sharing of specific likes and dislikes. Taste cultures, Thornton argued, establish their own hierarchies, often very different from "normal" society's cultural hierarchies, and participating in a taste culture often means teaching newcomers those particular hierarchies and enforcing the shared sense of what is "hip," "authentic," and "real" (vs. "phony" and "mainstream").
Although Hebdige, Jenkins, and Thornton all wrote these major works before the digital age began in earnest, they gave us several important frameworks that are very pertinent today for understanding fandom as it plays out on social media sites and other types of Internet communities, and as it evolves across media platforms. From Hebdige, we learned that fans don't just consume commodities that are marketed to them; rather, fans use commodities to express themselves. From Jenkins, we learned that fans are often both "pro-" and "anti-" the objects of their fandoms, and their participation in fan groups is motivated by a complex emotional investment, and a quest to share their manifold emotions about a given commodity with others who feel similarly. From Thornton, we learned that fans come together to create status hierarchies based on shared expertise and values.
Fan theory has been a going concern in academic circles for over thirty years, and the analysis and observations of fandoms' early theorists are still relevant today. This has been a quick intro to three of the major scholars of fan behavior and fan communities, but there are a great many other researchers and writers in cultural studies, film and media studies, sociology, literature, and other fields who continue to publish fascinating insights about how fandoms develop.
Reader Comments (9)
:):):)
An excellent post! I too have written something similar!
http://www.theglaringfacts.com/fan-theory/
The Glaring Facts
MOIRA Courage and resolution are the spirit and soul of virtue.-latest Mario Bruni Leather Shoes
Thank you very much. I am wonderring if i can share your article in the bookmarks of society，Then more friends can talk about this problem.Hermes Shoulder Birkin
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.-cheap Longines Grande Vitesse watch replicas
Brilliant post! Fan theory is a very interesting topic since most people spend their time indulging the benefits of technology.
If you enter details about any potential problems or dangers on the Internet to select fake omega watches.
the best way to purchase any copies of the replica Omega DeVille watch is from a reliable supplier.
When you meet your dream replica omega seamaster watch online auction sites, there are several things going crazy
Before you buy online make sure you replica omega Speedmaster watch any peace of mind in each of these areas.
I really do appreciate your feedback. I'm still struggling with the technology but I wish everyone all luck with this competition. I've been pinned down with a sick grandchild and today a very sick daughter - both with gastric flu which afflicts us all at this time of year - so this is the first moment I've had to get to the computer eflgzj eflgzj - Belstaff Coat.
Chinese electronic products are popular all across the world as they are very cheap. This is why many people are now buying wholesale products from China electronic wholesalers and are selling them in their own countries.
Most of the online china wholesale dealers maintain a catalogue of wholesale electronics items on their website which makes it convenient for the distributor to order for the good that he requires. Some of the popular electronics goods that are popular with buyers include wholesale laptops, Car Satellite GPS Navigation, china wholesale watches, Hello Kitty Watches, Cheap Wholesale Jewelry, MP3 players and many such buy wholesale electronics. For best business relations and good products, choose a wholesaler who offers good warranty on the cheap wholesale products.