Transformative Works and Cultures - TWC (Organization for Transformative Works)
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852 research outputs found
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(Un)Creation: Labor, love, fandom, and generative AI
No full textWe discuss generative AI in relation to core understandings and theoretical frames within academic fan studies, arguing that capitalist systems that seek to automate the creative process are incompatible with current understandings of fan cultures. We consider core questions that the field will need to reevaluate as this technology develops further, ending by describing a framework that we call (un)creation and what we view as the ideal path forward for fan-industry research
"This is a deepfake!": Celebrity scandals, parodic deepfakes, and a critically speculative ethics of care for fandom research in the age of artificial intelligence
No full textFans are increasingly aware of deepfakes—believable AI-fabricated videos—and are therefore more skeptical of unverified information, even when visual evidence appears convincing. This article offers a methodological reflection on analyzing a deepfake event in which fans produced and circulated AI-generated disinformation to playfully undermine the credibility of a celebrity's video scandal. We explore the complex human-community-machine interactions (HCMI) between fans and AI-generated images, and we discuss how researchers can ethically (re)present their findings. We call for rethinking the "fans first" principle, a core tenet of ethical fandom research. Drawing on Puig de la Bellacasa's technoscientific theorization of care, we propose a critically speculative ethics of care in fandom research, guided by three principles: (1) thinking with fans, (2) thinking for fandom, and (3) thinking beyond fans and fandom. This approach is particularly relevant in a digital media ecology where generative AI and fan practices mutually transform each other. Our discussion also serves as a springboard for further explorations of ethics related to AI, including its impact on trust, social relations, and data governance
The legend of Taylor Heinicke: An autoethnography of unexpected, passionate fandom
No full textPassionate fandom is not a novel phenomenon in the field of sport. The fervor of fans builds stadiums and has allowed the sport industry to grow exponentially in the past few decades. Scholars have examined the passionate fan through many theoretical lenses, but comparatively little scholarship has looked at sport fandom fervor from inside. An autoethnographic examination of my unexpected journey as a fan of journeyman National Football League (NFL) quarterback Taylor Heinicke demonstrates how fandom can stir passions and create rituals in sport followers. A multimedia diary of Heinicke's unexpected ascension to starting quarterback of the Washington Commanders provides insight into how fandom can overwhelm an orientation toward critical distance
The commodification of affections among Taylor Swift's and Travis Kelce's fan communities and the Cetaphil Super Bowl 2024 advertisement
No full textThe Super Bowl 2024 Cetaphil commercial, influenced by the Taylor Swift–Travis Kelce relationship, shows how the media not only exploits the closeness between fans of different worlds but also uses the commodification of emotions to sell a positive experience associated with product consumption
Intergenerational dynamics of children's music fandom: An enculturation perspective
No full textMusic fandom forms an important part of everyday life for an increasing number of children. However, prior research has mostly ignored child audiences. Based on interviews of Finnish fans aged seven to eleven years old, I discuss the intergenerational dimensions of children's music fandom, approaching them from the perspective of fan enculturation. Children's fan activities, as well as their chances for developing more autonomous fan cultural agency, are often dependent on parents' economic and material facilitation. Moreover, music fandom may evolve into an intergenerational family practice shared by both the child(ren) and the parent(s). In this case, the child-parent relationship becomes a forum for direct fan-to-fan interaction and sharing of subcultural capital. Fan enculturation should also be understood as a multidirectional phenomenon, as children may contribute to the emergence and cultivation of their parents' fandoms
Polyphemus ❤️ Acis: The conduit in Ovid's Metamorphoses
No full textThis contribution applies a motif from fan fiction, the conduit, to the love triangle of Polyphemus, Acis, and Galatea in the Ancient Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses (ca. 8 CE). Reading this passage of Ovid through the lens of the conduit helps explain the role of the female narrator Galatea and Ovid's addition to the story of Acis, provides a fitting modern interpretive tool for this ancient story, and enacts a reparative reading of the text
Fandom, speculation, and capitalist space-time at the Crypto.com Arena
No full textIn 2021, the cryptocurrency exchange platform Crypto.com bought the naming rights to the Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers, and the stadium was renamed Crypto.com Arena by the year's end. An analysis of posts on the subject on the social media platform Reddit shows a highly polarized reaction to this change: for Lakers fans and the wider basketball community, the name change became a moment for nostalgic looking back, memorializing an iconic era in Lakers history associated with the late Kobe Bryant. For cryptocurrency proponents, it served largely as a symbol of a bright financial and technological future just around the corner. Ultimately, however, both communities' reactions to the change demonstrate a tense relationship to the branded stadium that is in need of constant renegotiation and redefinition as dictated by the ebbs and flows of capital. Examining the Staples Center/Crypto.com Arena as a site for contested readings between these invested communities shows how the stadium and its name serve as a battleground for the formation of identity within late capitalism
Everyone watches women's sports
No full textThe media and commerce brand Togethxr launched an incredibly successful T-shirt in 2023 that read, "Everyone watches women's sports." While women's sports fans seemed moved and excited by the commercial item, the shirt's slogan actually demonstrates a paradox of visibility within women's sports and women's sports fandom
Come as you are: Sex, race, and writing in f/f slash fan fiction communities
No full textWriters of f/f slash fan fiction are a significant and growing presence within online fan communities. Fan fiction studies, however, pays little attention to f/f slash and even less to the queer women and nonbinary writers who create these works. To address this gap, I present the results of an in-depth interview study of twenty-three adult f/f fan fiction writers from diverse racial, national, and fandom backgrounds, with specific focus on sexually explicit writing. Drawing extensively from interview data, I explore the ways that f/f slash writers create and navigate community online, as well as the joys and challenges of writing sex that aligns with lived identities. Rooted in intersectional analysis, I pay close attention to the perspectives of writers of color and document their contributions, insights, and experiences. In doing so, I present a fuller picture of fan fiction communities than is typically reported and highlight the considerable labor that f/f slash writers contribute to the field
Queer time and space in genderqueering fancams #transpeterparkeredit
No full textThrough montage editing and music accompaniment, fancams employ queer time and space to reimagine canonically cisgender characters as genderqueer. This suspension, dissection, and suturing to queer a traditional and dominant linear narrative canon inspires a genderqueer video-edit rebellion