Fandom as a remixing culture
“Fandom, after all, is born of a balance between fascination and frustration: if media content didn't fascinate us, there would be no desire to engage with it; but if it didn't frustrate us on some level, there would be no drive to rewrite or remake it.” ― Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide
Kimberly Leerkes 10586954
2022 EA 380A Haarlem kimberlyleerkes@gmail.com 0610236496
Master Thesis New Media Studies 2015-‐2016 University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Humanities
Thesis supervisor: Dr. N. A. J. M. (Niels) van Doorn Second reader: dr. J.A.A. (Jan) Simons
Index
Fandom as a remixing culture 1
Index 2
Introduction 3
Methodology 7
Case study 8
Autoethnography 9
Interviews 10
Interviewees 12
Episode I – Defining fandom 15
Fans and fandom 15
Remixing the canon 18
Episode II – Start of an Empire 21
Fanzines and APA’s 21
Organized fandom 24
The epic story of Star Wars 25
Episode III – The Fans Awaken 29
Fans and the Web 1.0 29
Digital fan labor 32
A rebellion brew 37
Episode IV – The Empire Strikes Back 43
The emergence of platforms 44
The Disney reign 49
Conclusion 56
Further research 57
Bibliography 58
61
Appendix 63
Interview questions 63
Interview findings 65
Introduction
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Or maybe November 2014, the first sound after a silence of nine years is the voice of the legendary hero Luke Skywalker, actor Mark Hamill, saying the memorable words: “The force is strong in my family.” Familiar sounds of starships passing, lightsabers clashing and stormtroopers shooting are like music to the ears. The trailer of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens does not reveal the plot of the movie, but reassures fans that it is everything they have hoped for. The trailer was viewed over 112 million times in just 24 hours (Marshal 2016). Days after the release, The Force Awakens was still a social buzz with fans proudly tweeting and posting that they have seen the trailer more than 13 times. The satisfaction of the fans was proudly shared by posting parodies, reaction videos, cover arts and already fan fiction narratives on the Web. The fans were heating up ‘society’ for the upcoming movie and it proved to be the most successful Star Wars to date, it was even the highest grossed movie in North America (Hodak 2016). It is striking that Star Wars, with its most successful movies released in the 1970s/1980s and its disappointing trilogy in the late 1990s, was still this popular in 2014. I am convinced that this everlasting popularity is due to the rich fan community Star Wars has and the products they produce.
Fans have always had a close relation with new technology. Media professor Henry Jenkins even states: “Fans have always been early adaptors,” (Jenkins 2006b 140-‐141). I consider fan culture a media culture; new technologies have shaped fan culture to an extent that fan culture cannot be seen without media developments. Therefore, the development of fan culture is constantly connected to the progression of new technology. Fans on their part have influenced contemporary society, with their key characteristic of remixing source material, according to Professor Lawrence Lessig a characteristic of the new generation (Lessig 2007). Nowadays we can see several versions of remixed content, ranging from parody videos on YouTube to meme culture1 imbedded in almost every website. These activities are no longer attributed to only fans, but have a pre-‐digital origin that has encountered complex struggles regarding copyright laws. This thesis will discuss the rise of contemporary fan culture that has not been without difficulties. The focus will be on fan-‐produced products, the items that fuel the fan community but also cause conflict with the media industry. Though official owners want a harmonious relation with their fans, they cannot suppress the need to remix content. This tension between owners and fans will guide the developments in fan cultures and new media.
1
An Internet meme is a concept or idea that spreads "virally" from one person to another via the Internet. An Internet meme could be anything from an image to an email or video file; however, the most common meme is an image of a person or animal with a funny or witty caption.
Fan culture and media expert Henry Jenkins describes a culture that encourages the production of new material. It resembles the nature fan culture, where the community helps each other to produce more qualitative new content. The voice of the masses is stronger than those of the individual, even if that individual is the official maker of the content presented (Jenkins 2006b 135-‐137). The notion of ownership is put to question. Fans are extremely critical and many filmmakers, authors and game developers have tasted the fierce critique fired at them. The power relation between fans and the media industry is one of the major themes that guide this thesis. It shows the increasing power of fans and how the media industry tries to deal with it. The focus is on the Star Wars fandom, a fandom that from its beginning in 1977 has been in a constant struggle between fans and creative owner George Lucas. In the beginning Lucas was appreciative of his fans, but soon he saw that fans crossed the boundaries of his approval. Like his fans, Lucas was an early adaptor of new technologies and therefore the Star Wars fandom was the first to encounter problematic situations. Lucas tried to collaborate with his fans, but his efforts backlashed when fans discovered they had creative differences with Lucas. The relation between companies and their fans is a delicate issue, because fans love to engage and create new content but to do this they use original source material that is the intellectual property of someone else.
My research will contribute to new media studies and fan studies by directly connecting the fields of research with each other. Fans and media are inseparable and should be treated as such. This thesis will show how the production of fan products has changed over the years and what effects these changes have caused. The focus is on the fan-‐generated products. Products that are always connected with new media technologies. Fans use media to create, share and communicate with each other. New media has changed the way fan products are created and shared. New technology implies new ways use and will lead to new behavior. How much has fan culture changed with the emerging of digital technology? I will follow the history of fan cultures and show how closely connected fan cultures are with media and why this concerns the media industry. How has the media industry approached the changing behavior of fan cultures and how have fans reacted to this interference?
Research question
How has digital technology shaped fan culture and what are the effects of fan generated products in relation to the media industries?
Thesis overview
The chapters are portrayed as ‘episodes’, a referral to the way each Star Wars movie is titled. The headline of some episodes refer to a movie quote or title that corresponds with the content provided in the chapter. The structure of the thesis follows a chronological order, where I will start with the emergence of organized fan culture and will follow the development of new technologies. Star Wars is therefore very appropriate because the release of each trilogy takes place in the different time periods discussed: pre-‐digital, early Web (1.0) and the present Web (2.0). I will discuss how new technology has influenced fan cultures and how the relation between fans and the original creator changes over the years.
Methodology – The methodology is a theoretical analysis of the different methods and approaches used during this research. It will account for the decision to use certain methods and how these methods are executed and designed.
Episode I: Defining Fandom – This chapter aims to explain the essence of fan culture and the close relation fans have with media. Key terms and activities are introduced, such as the act of remixing original source works. This is an activity that shows the nature of fan culture and suggests the conflict fans tend to have with the original authors. The aim for this chapter is to provide a short introduction to fandom.
Episode II: Start of an Empire – I will discuss the emergence of fan culture of the 1900s by connecting technological developments with fan activities. It will show the fandom as a network that became more present as media progressed. This will not only show what role media plays in fan cultures, but also how the media industry initially treaded fan engagement.
Episode III: The Fans Awaken – This chapter focuses on the transition of fan cultures to the early days of the Web. The time period discussed is the 1990s until roughly the 2000s. Lucas already struggled to control fan activities and tried to use fans for his company. The concept of free labor in relation to fans is discussed. Fan products are not just valuable in the fan community. George Lucas always had an interesting relationship with his fans. He started out loving the attention of fans, but at a turn point he aggressively protected his intellectual property. Over time, the Star Wars fandom has grown to enormous proportion and all the fans have a certain view of what Star Wars is about. When their idea of Star Wars does not match with how Lucas envisions it, conflict emerges. Several media developments have fueled this conflict and they show that fans cannot be controlled. In the participatory culture the group decided the rules.
Episode IV: The Empire Strikes Back– The final chapter will describe contemporary fan culture. After 10 years of silence, Lucasfilm releases its newest Star Wars movie. The media environment has significantly changed, as has the behavior of fans. Lucas has denounced all rights to Disney, resulting in superfan Abrams directing the franchise he loves. In this chapter I will look back on the relationship of fans and the media industry and how companies have tried to control fan engagement. Lucas has not succeeded in creating a harmonious fan relation, but new owner Disney has a different approach.
Methodology
This chapter will focus on the different research methods used in this study. The aim of this research is to provide new insights and knowledge to contribute to existing research on media and fan studies. Through research we gain a deeper understanding of contemporary events (Creswell 2002 4). The research question ‘How has digital technology shaped fan culture and what are the effects of fan generated products in relation to the media industries?’ requires a qualitative research approach. Creswell explains that a qualitative research approach is best suited to address a research problem in which the variables are not yet known and exploring is essential (Creswell 2002 17). The answer of the research question cannot narrowly be measured in numbers. It is the exploration of a phenomenon that will provide a suitable answer and getting to know a culture and its artifacts will be key to this research. It is therefore necessary to choose for a qualitative approach, where a phenomenon is explored by looking at events and the reaction of people to these events.
Though in a qualitative approach literature often plays a minor role (Creswell 2002 17) I have frequently used literature to guide the argument. The research question requires two different understandings: an exploration of technological developments from the 1900s until present day and an understanding of the nature of fan cultures. These two main questions must be connected to answer the first part of the research question. The technological developments and their impact on the culture are analyzed by literature. But connecting it to fan activities requires an understanding of what fan culture is all about. Getting to know a culture requires contact with participants of the culture. I have systematically analyzed my personal experiences (autoethnographic research) in order to obtain thick descriptions. Thick descriptions consist, opposed to thin descriptions, of more detail, conceptual structures and meanings and interpretation (Geertz 1994 213-‐220). As an active participant in fandom I have a clear idea of the essence of fan culture. Something that may not reflect in literature. In combination with my autoethnographic approach I have interviewed other fans and connected their answers to my personal experience and the literature presented.
The interview results and my personal experience however did not contain data that provided an historical overview of the developments of technology. Many interviewees did not experience the shift from analog media to digital media and therefore could not comment on this. For this reason I have used mostly literature to structure the storyline that chronologically follows the developments of new media technology. New technology is then linked to fan activities to interpret its influence and effects. I have used the Star Wars case study as an example to more closely examine how a fandom could change. Not every fandom goes through the same
developments, but Star Wars has had a significant role in the history of Western science fiction fandom and has experienced the three time periods I have chosen to discuss in this thesis. The timeline of new technological developments linked with the Star Wars fandom therefore guides the storyline of this thesis. It is complemented with the thick descriptions of the interviews and autoethnographic research to enrich the insights obtained from literature.
Case study
In general, case studies are an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-‐life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used (Yin 1984 23). Eisenhardt and Graebner describe case studies as “a research strategy, which focuses on understanding the dynamics present within single settings,” (Eisenhardt & Graebner 2007 534). My research strategy involves taking on a case study: the Star Wars fandom2. Case studies are rich empirical descriptions of particular instances of a phenomenon that are typically based on a variety of data sources (Yin 1994; Eisenhardt & Graebner 2007 25). This approach has been followed by analyzing how technology has shaped fan behavior before and after the influence of the Web 2.0. This is done by doing theoretical research where I historicize certain fan related events and connect them to technological developments. For pre-‐digital developments, I used pre-‐existing theories created by other researchers such as Henry Jenkins, Karen Hellekson, Mark Duffet, Matt Hills and Fransesca Coppa, who have all partially historicized fan culture but show different perspectives from different movements. I will connect their findings with the emergence of new technologies and the events of the Star Wars fandom. Contemporary fan culture will be analyzed by not only theoretical research, but also empirical research (interviews, autoethnography) that will have a leading role in especially the final chapter of this thesis.
Star Wars has a rich cultural history that illustrates the struggle with original authors prior to present fan culture. The role of this case study will not be captured if historical events are not mentioned. Star Wars is one of the key fandoms in the science fiction/fantasy scene. It could be argued that one the reason for fan cultures to become popular in the 1970s is the release of the first science fiction blockbuster movie: Star Wars. Even today, Star Wars is one of the biggest fandoms in the world with a large variety of fan activities and creative products.
The reason I chose Star Wars as a case study is its unique relationship with the original author. The story of fan culture can be illustrated through this specific fandom, for Star Wars started during the time when fan culture was at its beginning. Many Star Wars related events have influenced the relationship between fans and the original makers of the franchise. George Lucas,
2 Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with
creator of Star Wars, from the beginning had a fickle relationship with his fans. He used them to promote his franchise, but tried to control them to eventually find out fans cannot be controlled, and eventually he denied their existence (Jenkins 2006b 138). Fans of Star Wars, on their end, have loudly critiques creative decisions George Lucas has made and used fan products to aggressively critique the source material. But even after disappointing events, the number of Star Wars fans did not decrease. The latest movie resulting in a creative fan engagement revival regarding Star Wars and participates in the newest genres of fan engagement. However, what makes Star Wars most interesting is that their fandom has had struggle when forming. Unlike popular fandom like The Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, in which fans were welcomed by the original authors and encountered less struggle. Star Wars has encountered several counteracts by Lucas, but nevertheless evolved into a fandom with diverse fan engagement that have influenced the creative industries, the media industries, popular culture and fan culture behavior with the use of new (digital) technologies.
Autoethnography
Autoethnography is a research approach that seeks to describe and systematically analyze personal experience in order to understand cultural experience. It is a form of qualitative research in which the author uses self-‐reflection and writing to explore personal experiences and connect this autobiographical story to wider cultural, political and social meanings (Ellis, Adam & Brochner 2011 273). It is an approach that leads to thick descriptions. The purpose of this description is to help facilitate understanding of a culture for insiders and outsiders, and is created by (inductively) discerning patterns of cultural experience—repeated feelings, stories, and happenings—as evidenced by interviews and/or artefacts (Jorgenson 2002 350-‐380). Autoethnographers must consider ways in which others may experience similar experiences. They must use personal experience to illustrate facets of cultural experience and make characteristics of a culture familiar for insiders and outsiders. Autoethnography implies connection: the stories we write connect the self to the cultural. The way we research and write these stories blends social science methods with the aesthetic sensibilities of the humanities. I consider myself a fan and have been a participant in the several fandom as long as I can remember. Looking back at my childhood, I started creating fan art of my favorite characters of The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter Laboratory in juxtaposed sequences, creating comic books. This later evolved in crossovers3 and new narratives between several cartoon series, mostly of the Cartoon Network channel. Of course as a child I did not consider these practices fan activities and I did not yet actively participated in a networked fandom. But looking back at those activities I do see my acts as a way to engage with source material, one of the key characteristics of ‘fan
behavior.’ During my teenage years (2000/2010) I was an active fan fiction writer and fan artist, mostly in the anime4 and manga5 scene. I have become more enthusiastic about several Western science fiction franchises, due to encountering fans and interesting fan products (fan fiction mostly). Although I do not engage in fan fiction/art anymore, I am an active member on social media, forums and do my deal of theory crafting6 on Reddit. Because years of personal experience in fan culture, I understand what it means to be a fan and how fans often think about their works in relation to non-‐fan productions. My personal experiences can provide richer (thicker) descriptions, because I can oversee the full context of my actions after self-‐reflexion and match these with the literature. This however, has not been an easy process. “Because many autoethnographical studies relate to painful experiences, the researcher may encounter difficult moments during the course of the research and writing,” (Raab 2013 14). To relate to my past identity and understand how it translates into my present identity is a difficult process. But it is worth the effort in order to reap the wards or reflexivity and introspection. This process required honesty and understanding.
To balance my understanding of fan culture, it is necessary to contact other fan members and compare our experiences in order to capture the nature of fan culture, the motives of producing fan products and their view on ownership. To accurately illustrate what it means to be an engaging fan in contemporary times it is mandatory to get in touch with fans that currently creatively participate in fan communities.
Interviews
In-‐dept interviews are often described as a form of conversation (Ritchie 2013 138). An interview is a form of survey on which the researcher records answers supplied by the participant in the study. The researcher asks a question from an interview guide, listens for answers or observes behavior, and records responses on the survey (Creswell 2002 382). These interviews were conducted to obtain information about fan’s motives, perception on fan culture, production of fan works and the effects of fan production within the community. What role does media technology play in the production and distribution of fan products?
The interview questions are structured in a way they allow the interviewee to answer freely without being influenced by the interviewers opinions. The interview must be interactive in
4 Anime is Japanese hand-‐drawn or computer animation. The word is the abbreviated pronunciation of ‘animation’ in Japanese,
where this term references all animation without regards to the nation of origin. Outside Japan however, anime is used to refer
specifically to animation from Japan or as a Japanese-‐disseminated animation style often characterized by colorful graphics, vibrant characters and fantastical themes.
5 Manga are comics created in Japan, or by creators in the Japanese language, conforming to a style developed in Japan in the late
19th century. They have a long and complex pre-‐history in earlier Japanese art. The term manga is a Japanese word referring both to comics and cartooning. ‘Manga’ as a term used outside Japan refers specifically to comics originally published in Japan.
6 As an emergent practice of World of Warcraft (WoW) players, theory crafting is the search for the optimal set of strategies with
which to play WoW. By using statistical analysis and mathematical modeling, theory crafters seek out the underlying formulae that govern WoW, largely in an attempt to play WoW better. Since the release of the popular novel and TV series Game of Thones, theory crafting is also considered the crafting of theories regarding the fictional narrative; solving the story mystery.
nature where the answers of the interviewees will lead the follow-‐up of questions. Initially, the first answers lead to a ‘surface’ question. The interviewers must use follow-‐up questions to obtain a deeper and fuller understanding of the participants meaning (Ritchie 2013 141-‐142). Anonymity was a big issue among interview interviewees. I received a lot of responses on my interview request on websites that are popular for creative fan engagement (DeviantArt, Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own), however all stayed quiet the moment I wanted to schedule a Skype video chat. Because of this result I have changed my interview method and found out that ‘email’ interviewing was preferred among the interview applicants. Though the exchanging of email was still to personal, correspondence through private messaging was preferred.
I have asked some of the applicants why they prefer to stay anonymous. Some have explained that they wanted their identity kept secret because they do not openly practice their hobby. Fan fiction writer David, for instance, is new to the fan fiction scene and was the only one who wanted to mention his first name. Rebel Spectre 6 explained that he was simply being careful with giving out personal information to people he did not personally know. From my own experience as a fan, I know that some fans consider their online fan behavior a secret hobby. Being an obsessive fan is completely accepted in fan culture itself, but might cause unwanted opinions from others in daily life. I respect their wished to stay anonymous during the interviews and have adapted my interview methods to the needs of the applicants.
Email interviews were done by corresponding via email. My interviewees preferred to use the private messaging system provided by either FanFiction.net of DeviantArt. Although private messaging is different from email, it does show some resemblances. The private messaging (PM messaging) in DeviantArt and FanFiction.net resemble email corresponding. Sending messages are done from user to user, without the use of an email address or the exchange personal information. FanFiction.net directs incoming PMs to your personal email inbox, but to answer the message you must use the FanFiction.net messaging system. This is not like a chatroom, where the conversation synchronous. Though, a PM is considered less formal than an email. FanFiction.net does not allow to share URLs in the PMs, which caused smaller problems when the fans exchanged their blog information with me. DeviantArt does not redirect PMs to my email, causing me to remark responses a few days after the interviewee had send them. This is not a functional problem, but did cause the interview correspondence to take longer than was necessary.
There are several advantages to private messaging interviews. It is possible to send multiple questions at once and unlike instant messaging interviews, the applicant has the option to think about the questions and provide elaborate answers. The disadvantage was that this form of interview could result in interviewees forgetting or choosing to not respond (Creswell 2002
383). Another disadvantage is the chance to lose the conversation aspect. The interviewee might keep his valuable anonymity, but a chance to really get to know the person is minimized. With the absence of body language the answers could be interpreted in a different way (Creswell 2002 383). As an interviewer, I was fully dependent on the typed answers provided.
I wanted my interviews to resemble a personal conversation as much as possible. For this reason, I send out five or six questions per email, so it would be easier to use follow-‐up questions. The first set of questions were used to get to know the person and the motives of their fan engagement. The second set often contained questions about the production process and the effects of their work. The third set question the matter of ownership of the fandom’s products, do fans credit themselves? And what do they think about collaborating or ‘being used’ by the media industry? Are they even aware? This structure is chosen to make the interviewee feel more comfortable. I would not ask delicate questions about authorship and possible exploitation in the beginning of the interview, it might scare the interviewee resulting in no responses. I have used a mixture or open and closed questions, though closed questions were often followed by a question to explain.
During my interviews I noticed that several applicants have a busy daily schedule, scheduling a one-‐hour interview would have been demanding for them. This could be the reason why many fans did not respond after the request for a date. With a PM interview they can take their time answering the questions and message back whenever it suits them. I would then message them with follow-‐up questions until I feel no more questions were needed. Another advantage is the difference in time-‐zones. Hardly any of the interviewees were located in Europe, this issue would have made it hard to schedule a meeting that was convenient for them or me.
Interviewees
The main requirement of the interviewees was that they had to be actively engaging with the Star Wars fandom by creating a fan product. At first I reached out to fan artist whose artwork has gone viral in popular culture. One artist was the German filmmaker Shawn Bu, whose fan video Darth Maul: Apprentice inspired me to use fan products as a thesis topic. It was the first fan video that I have encountered that had an extremely professional look and feel, but was made with a small budget by a small team. In March 2016 the video went internationally viral outside the fan community, presenting popular culture the underground world of fan editing. However, such artists have become minor celebrities within their genre and did not respond to my requests. I decided to dig deeper in the fan culture and invite active fans that are currently popular within their field and whose products will probably not reach non-‐fans unless they are looking for it.
I have searched several websites for fan artist within the Star Wars fandom and found several applicants on FanFiction.net and DeviantArt. To structure the large amounts of fan works I filtered the contents by the date of last published content. FanFiction.net gives basic information about every fan fiction such as amount of words, chapters, publishing date etc. I chose fan writers who recently updated their work and had writer a substantial amount of work. I did the same for the fan illustrations through DeviantArt, where the possibility to look by publishing date was also available. I specifically looked for active users and popularity of their product. The reason for this is to exclude fans that are creating one-‐shot products and may quit their project before it can contribute to the fandom.
Interview interviewees are:
-‐ Rebel Spectre 6: fan fiction writer, fan illustrator, fan video (video edits) and theory crafting.
-‐ Nendwriter: fan fiction writer and English (academic) student. -‐ Dark Side of the Mind: fan fiction writer.
-‐ David: fan fiction writer.
-‐ Murdered-Seconds: fan illustrator.
-‐ Quack Inc: writing duo, one writer is also a fan illustrator.
All interviewees have stated to prefer to stay anonymous and agreed on the use of their online identity (their account name). To respect their privacy I have only used information given through their interviews or their online profile. The interviews were conducted between April 2016 and May 2016, using private messages on Fanfiction.net and DeviantArt. Most correspondence lasted for three to four weeks. More specific information per interview can be found in the appendix (page 64). The difficulty with interviewing using private messaging is that interviews are conducted over a longer time period. Interviewees could choose when to respond, resulting in some responses received after more than a week. The interviewees took the interview serious and always mentioned they needed time to answer them. I hardly ever received a response on the same day of questioning.
Not all interviewees were elaborate in their answers and there is less pressure for them to be so, even if the same question is asked several times. This problem caused me to delete the interview with fan fiction writer DarthImperius. Even though I constructed many open questions, he answered in short sentences with several yes/no answers. Even after repeating the question in a different manner, there was no improvement. Several questions were not understood. It should be noted that this was the only non-‐English speaking fan (Portuguese fan), but all of his fan fiction was written in English. I decided that because of the lack of explanation, the answers were not usable. I cannot force an interviewee to give more information than they
want. This is the disadvantage of interviews using private messaging. This is in contrast with my interview with Nendwriter, an academic literature student based in California. She responded with elaborative answers leaving plenty of room for follow-‐up questions. Nendwriter seemed to understand the debate of my research well and our interview seemed more like a conversation, discussing the issue of ownership over fan products and the effects of fan products on her personal life, but also the fan community.
I contacted a few Etsy sellers and requested an interview, but they did not respond to my request. Interview finding of Etsy would be an interesting addition to my data, because the behavior of those fans differs from other fans. They sell their products with possibly a commercial motive, whereas other fan content is mostly offered for free. I wanted to know if these Etsy sellers considered themselves fans, or offered their fan related products for commercial reasons, and why they chose to ask money for their products.
Limitations
Though it was my intention to talk to fans of different ages, the fans that wanted to participate in this research were mostly digital natives. Because a significant part of this thesis describes the transition from pre-‐digital fan culture to online fan culture, it would have been more interesting to have fans that have experienced this technological shift. When approaching fans for an interview I mostly focused on fans that created fanworks such as fan art and fan fiction. Because of my decision to do interviews through online technologies I have never actually met my interviewees. I only knew about their age when I started the interview. The findings collected of these interviews where highly valuable. The task to use the collected data in the findings was challenging for certain chapters such as Episode II where the fan culture of the 1900s was described. These limitations in interviews were however complemented by more theory that has been written about this period in fan culture. Towards the last chapter on contemporary fan culture, I was struggling to find academic theory to structure my argument. The interview, case study and autoethnographic research were more important for describing contemporary fan culture.
Another challenge was to transform my personal experiences as a fan into an academic analysis of fandom. Most of my intensive fan activities were done in the early 2000s, but at the time I was barely a teenager and hardly knew of the intense discourses regarding new technology. I was challenged to connect my past experiences with media theory and critically reflect on the works others have written.
Episode I – Defining fandom
Giving a clear definition of what it means to be a fan is a difficult challenge. There is not one definition of the word ‘fan’. Fan cultures are diverse and complex and fans come in all varied shapes and genres. It is impossible to mention all sorts of fans and their unique attributes; therefore this thesis focuses on the culture of the Western science fiction/fantasy fans and their relation to modern technology. This chapter aims to capture the nature of fan cultures by explaining the main characteristics all fandom have in common. What makes fan culture different from other cultures? Even though there are many different sorts of fans, they all share the same basic need to engage with source material.
Fans and fandom
Fandom is a socio-‐cultural phenomenon largely associated with modern capitalist societies, electronic media, and mass culture. When looking at the characteristics of fans it might be tempting to think that fan culture was always there, fully formed in society. “Nobody functions entirely within fan culture, nor does fan culture maintain any claims to self-‐sufficiency. There is nothing timeless about this culture; fandom originates as a response to specific historical conditions and remains constantly in flux,” (Jenkins 1992 3). These conditions stem from the emergence of new technology and their tendency to reconfigure everyday experience.
Merriam-‐Webster, the Oxford dictionary defines the term ‘fan’ as a shortened version of the word ‘fanatic’, already suggesting the nature of fan behavior. The word ‘fanatic’ was introduced to the English language in the seventeenth-‐century with the definition: “marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion,” or someone who cannot change his mind and will not change his subject. Both these definitions often refer to a (irrational) religious zeal. Later the word was shortened to ‘fan’ and used as a synonym for ‘devotee’ or ‘adherent’. The word ‘fan’ became significant one century later when it was used by journalists to describe the passion of baseball spectators (Duffet 2013 5). A fandom is the collective title of the cultural production (movie, show, novel, celebrity etc.) and all fan activities surrounding it. It is a combination of the words ‘fan’ and ‘kingdom’ and often used in a way one would use the word ‘kingdom’. Such a fandom can consist of several subcultures that form communities or groups that are still connected to the main fandom but have a preference for a specific character or storyline. Sometimes a subculture is big enough to be considered a fandom on itself. For instance, there is the main fandom of Star Wars where all Star Wars related activities resolve under. But there are also fandom dedicated to characters, fan practices or storylines. For instance there might be a Clone Wars fandom, where fans specifically gather to talk about the series, there is a Kylo Ren
fanbase where several fans dedicate artwork, fan fiction or blogposts to this specific character, and there is the 501st Legion, a community dedicated to the act of (stormtrooper) cosplay7 that could be seen as a fandom of its own. All these fandom have several gathering spots, but eventually all contribute in the circulation of Star Wars content; the main fandom.
Defining the term ‘fan’ or ‘fandom’ has been proven to be difficult to several researchers. One problem most authors encounter is that a fandom cannot be pinned down to a singular definition as expressions and performances of fandom change over time and place. Many authors come up with distinctions within the general category of fans. Tulloch and Jenkins (1992 23) for instance, make a distinction between ‘followers’ and ‘fans’, along the axis of engagement with the object of fandom. Unlike a ‘follower’, a fan claims a social identity. Brooker and Brooker’s (1996 141) distinction in ‘admirers’, ‘fans’ and ‘cult fans’ echoes a similar mode of distinction (Meers 2006). Abercrombie and Longhurst’s (1998) taxonomy of audience involvement is arguably the most extensive example of such attempts at refinement. They have proposed to consider fandom as the first degree of intensity with which one can relate to cultural texts. In a continuum of audience involvement, they distinguish between mere consumers on the one extreme and producers on the other, with fans, cultists and enthusiasts in the middle. While it does make sense to distinguish between different kinds of audience involvement, their proposal is problematic for its overhaul of common academic and common sense concepts. Abercrombie and Longhurst explain that the fan in previous studies resemble most closely their definition of a cultist, but as Mark Hills (2002 xi) observes, “It seems faintly unhelpful to produce a taxonomy in which the definition of ‘fan’ is at odds with the use of this term in almost all other literature in the field.” Hills continues to approach cult fandom as a ‘particular (enduring) form of affective fan relationship’ (Hills 2002 xi).
Although fans have an intense love for their fandom, they are by no means uncritical. Fans have a voice and have proven not to be afraid to use it. Jenkins states: “Organized fandom is an institution of theory and criticism, a semi structured space where competing interpretations and evaluations of common text are proposed, debated, and negotiated and where readers speculate about the nature of the mass media and their own relationship with it,” (Jenkins 1992 86). Fan gatherings consist of talking about specific characters, scenes and story possibilities. Fans might be one of the most critical and hard to please audiences storytellers have to deal with. They have a specific expectation of how a story should go and have shown to be very vocal about decisions that do not meet their standards.
Media and music expert Mark Duffet describes in his Understanding Fandom the fandom as the recognition of a positive, personal, relatively deep, emotional connection with a mediated
7 Cosplay (costume play) is the practice of dressing up as a character from a film, book, or video game. The act usually coheres with
costume crafting. Traditional cosplayers create their own costumes.
