In this Book

Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World

Book
Jonathan Gray, Cornel Sandvoss, C. Harrington
2007
Published by: NYU Press
summary

We are all fans. Whether we log on to Web sites to scrutinize the latest plot turns in Lost, “stalk” our favorite celebrities on Gawker, attend gaming conventions, or simply wait with bated breath for the newest Harry Potter novel—each of us is a fan. Fandom extends beyond television and film to literature, opera, sports, and pop music, and encompasses both high and low culture.

Fandom brings together leading scholars to examine fans, their practices, and their favorite texts. This unparalleled selection of original essays examines instances across the spectrum of modern cultural consumption from Karl Marx to Paris Hilton, Buffy the Vampire Slayer to backyard wrestling, Bach fugues to Bollywood cinema¸ and nineteenth-century concert halls to computer gaming. Contributors examine fans of high cultural texts and genres, the spaces of fandom, fandom around the globe, the impact of new technologies on fandom, and the legal and historical contexts of fan activity. Fandom is key to understanding modern life in our increasingly mediated and globalized world.

Table of Contents

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Cover

Title Page, Copyright

Contents

pp. v-vii

Acknowledgments

pp. ix

Introduction: Why Study Fans?

pp. 1-16

Part I Fan Texts From Aesthetic to Legal Judgments

pp. 17

1The Death of the Reader? Literary Theory and the Study of Texts in Popular Culture

pp. 19-32

2 Media Academics as Media Audiences Aesthetic Judgments in Media and Cultural Studies

pp. 33-47

3 Yoko in Cyberspace with Beatles Fans Gender and the Re-Creation of Popular Mythology

pp. 48-59

4 Copyright Law, Fan Practices, and the Rights of the Author

pp. 60-72

Part II Beyond Pop Culture Fandom from News to High Culture

pp. 73

5 The News You Gotta Love It

pp. 75-87

6 The Fans of Cultural Theory

pp. 88-97

7 Bachies, Bardies, Trekkies, and Sherlockians

pp. 98-109

8 Fans of Chekhov Re-Approaching “High Culture”

pp. 110-122

Part III Spaces of Fandom From Place to Performance

pp. 123

9 Place, Elective Belonging,and the Diffused Audience

pp. 125-138

10 On the Set of The Sopranos“Inside” a Fan’s Construction of Nearness

pp. 139-148

11A Sort of Homecoming Fan Viewing and Symbolic Pilgrimage

pp. 149-164

12 From Smart Fan to Backyard Wrestler Performance, Context, and Aesthetic Violence

pp. 165-176

Part IV Fan Audiences Worldwide From the Global to the Local

pp. 177

13 Global Fandom/Global Fan Studies

pp. 179-197

14 Between Rowdies and Rasikas Rethinking Fan Activity in Indian Film Culture

pp. 198-209

15 Beyond Kung-Fu and Violence Locating East Asian Cinema Fandom

pp. 210-219

16 Han Suk-kyu and the Gendered Cultural Economy of Stardom and Fandom

pp. 220-232

Part V Shifting Contexts, Changing Fan Cultures From Concert Halls to Console Games

pp. 233

17 Loving Music Listeners, Entertainments, and the Origins ofMusic Fandom in Nineteenth-Century America

pp. 235-249

18 Girls Allowed? The Marginalization of Female Sport Fans

pp. 250-260

19 Customer Relationship Management Automating Fandom in Music Communities

pp. 261-270

20 Playing the GamePerformance in Digital Game Audiences

pp. 271-282

Part VI Fans and Anti-Fans From Love to Hate

pp. 283

21 Fan-tagonism Factions, Institutions, and Constitutive Hegemonies of Fandom

pp. 285-300

22 Untidy Fan Response to the Soiling of Martha Stewart’s Spotless Image

pp. 301-315

23 The Anti-Fan within the Fan Awe and Envy in Sport Fandom

pp. 316-327

24 A Vacancy at the Paris Hilton

pp. 328-343

25 The Other Side of Fandom Anti-Fans, Non-Fans, and the Hurts of History

pp. 344-356

26 AfterwordThe Future of Fandom

pp. 357-364

Bibliography

pp. 365-392

About the Contributors

pp. 393-398

Index

pp. 399-406
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