Transformative Works and Cultures - TWC (Organization for Transformative Works)
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Positivity, critical fan discourse, and "Humans of New York"
No full text"Humans of New York" (HONY) is a popular photography project, with a global fandom and great outreach on social media platforms like Facebook. However, the creator of HONY has placed heavy restrictions on political discourse within the fan page in order to maintain the spirit of goodwill and positivity for which the fandom has come to be renowned. Yet the culture of positivity on HONY may be problematized: two case studies show that positivity was utilized to protect white men at the expense of women of color. HONY fans have pushed back against the culture of positivity by reclaiming the right to engage in political discourse or by creating alternate spin-off groups that engage with local political issues. Case studies of HONY provoke questions about what it means to engage in political discourse in a fandom that is premised on lying outside the realm of politics
"Fanfiction and the author: How fanfic changes popular cultural texts," by Judith May Fathallah
No full textReview of Judith May Fathallah. Fanfiction and the author: How fanfic changes popular cultural texts. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2017, hardcover, €99 (234p) ISBN 978-90-8964-995-9, eISBN 978-90-485-2908-7
"Wolfenstein II" and MAGA as fandom
No full textThe current political discourse in the United States is generally understood through the framework of partisanship, but this framework alone is insufficient to encompass all forms of political engagement. An analysis of the discourse around the Bethesda Softworks video game Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (2017) reveals that the outraged discourse around the references to the current political climate in America by right-wing groups is best understood through a framework of fandom. From this perspective, the discourse around the game is understood as an expression of fandom for President Donald Trump as an individual rather than of a persistent political identity or ideology. As fans, Trump supporters are guided in the political engagement by Trump's pledge to make America great again (MAGA)
Academic dialogue: Why study politics and fandom?
No full textAn academic dialogue between PhD candidate joan miller (University of Southern California) and associate professor CarrieLynn D. Reinhard (Dominican University), conducted via Twitter direct messaging over several weeks, illustrates that academic dialogues do not have to occur in person at universities or conferences. Social media provides a forum for scholars around the world and in different disciplines to consider a topic from a new perspective. Such dialogues provide a fertile ground to develop new insights, theories, and even research projects that can further our understanding of the topic and perhaps push the entire field into new areas. The conversation here explores the topic of how fandom and politics intersect to consider the issues involved in such intersections. The conversation—a journey two people take to come to understand each other—considers what fandom is, what the intersections of fandom and politics are, and whether we should be applying fan studies concepts, theories, and methods to understand politics
Follow the trope: A digital (auto)ethnography for fan studies
No full textIn this paper I investigate the methodological challenges posed by the intersection of two factors commonly found in some types of fan studies research: studying a community one is already a member of and that community existing in a digital setting. I propose an approach shaped by traditional ethnography, digital ethnography, and autoethnography that is theoretically grounded, takes into account both practical and theoretical issues, and seeks to leverage the strengths of the digital environment and the ethnographer's knowledge of the community they are researching. I pay particular attention to the role and positionality of the ethnographer in this environment, as well as the process of field site construction, which I conceptualize as a journey. To illustrate this follow-the-trope approach in action, I present a case study based on my research on sexual consent in fan fiction
Adding a digital dimension to fan studies methodologies
No full textDigital fan fiction challenges the sovereignty of the literary object and necessitates a reevaluation of textuality. Fan fiction may be taken as a form of networked digital narrative that exists electronically and shares features with the printed book. With a focus on the paratext as a site of transaction between fan fiction writers and readers, it is possible to attend to a negotiation between work and text. By using computational methods—word frequency analysis, topic modeling, and decision trees—to analyze fan fiction paratexts as they are used on the online fan fiction repository Archive of Our Own, it is possible to reevaluate the fan fiction paratext and the notion of the fan fiction text
Toward a fannish methodology: Affect as an asset
No full textFan studies is a multifaceted discipline that developed from widely different fields of research, resulting in a great variety of methodological approaches. A recurring issue in discussions on methodology in fan studies is the tension between the researchers' attachment to the phenomenon they are studying and the more detached, critical role of a researcher. The double position as both a participant in and observer of the communities that they are researching has led to valuable discussions about reflexivity and positionality in fan studies methodologies. Indeed, the double position of fan and researcher can inform and enrich research by bringing fannish practices and sensibilities to research projects. This tension between attachment to and detachment from the field influences the research process, leading to ethical challenges that acafans must face as a result of their dual positionality. Drawing on affect theory, and reflecting on our own research experiences from an autoethnographic perspective, we show how fannish attachment to the subject-object of study can be a driving force—a resource rather than an impediment to good research. An affective turn in methodology could improve knowledge not only within the field of fan studies but in the social sciences in general
Taylor Swift, political power, and the challenge of affect in popular music fandom
No full textWhen Taylor Swift came out politically via Instagram in 2018, her fans, the Swifties, reacted to their object of affection and her political position. An analysis of the online fan response provides a snapshot of how politics is empirically manifest in mainstream pop music fandoms—a genre and space often overlooked when it comes to discussing politics
The fight for creative ownership in franchise fiction
No full textSo-called franchise fiction, such as texts set in the Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Star Wars universes, as well as newer iterations based on video games, has an obvious and enduring appeal, most notably from a commercial perspective, with public recognition and built-in audiences. Creative practitioners, who are often fans themselves, embrace the opportunity to deepen the lore and possibilities of the property, as well as to make an original contribution to something they are invested in. However, there are some downsides, particularly issues surrounding the maintenance and expansion of an established canon and the management of fans who feel a protective and curatorial sense of ownership
"Productive fandom: Intermediality and affective reception in fan cultures," by Nicolle Lamerichs
No full textReview of Nicolle Lamerichs. Productive fandom: Intermediality and affective reception in fan cultures. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2018, hardback, $115 (244p) ISBN 978-90-8964-9386