Transformative Works and Cultures - TWC (Organization for Transformative Works)
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Fandom, the Filipino diaspora, and media convergence in the Philippine context
No full textIn an analysis of AlDub (the romantic pairing of actor Alden Richards and dubsmasher Maine Mendoza) and its fandom, I focus on the show's combined usage of old and new media, which has implications for media convergence in the Philippine context as well as the ways in which fandom in this context is used to negotiate identity and belonging in the context of diaspora and deterritorialization
Transnational audiences and Asian American performance in the musical "KPOP"
No full textThis essay contends with the question of how K-pop, audience performance, and race are intertwined by examining the award-winning musical KPOP. Through its immersive multimedia structure, KPOP reveals how the complex and racialized intertwining of mediated idol and mediated audience complicates the performance of Asian and Asian American identity, and ultimately leads its audience to a different space than an us-versus-them binary
Competition and controlling images as the fuel igniting Beyoncé and Rihanna fandom fights
No full textBeyoncé and Rihanna, two of the most commercially successful black women of all time, have long been painted as rivals by the media, which in turn negatively affects the relationship between the women's fan bases, known respectively as the BeyHive and the Rihanna Navy. These controlling images of black women, which uphold the norm of competition in pop music fandom, dictate the production and dissemination of stereotypes of black women
Enclaving and cultural resonance in Black "Game of Thrones" fandom
No full textBecause of the ways fandom is constructed as white, Black fans are often overlooked or marginalized. Black Game of Thrones (2011–) fans create a parallel culturally resonant fandom organized around an African American Vernacular English–inflected iteration of the show's title, Dem Thrones. Through podcast recaps and the use of nonstandard hashtags for live tweeting, these fans draw on the affordances of digital media to create enclaved fan spaces. In addition to creating parallel and sequestered fandoms, Dem Thrones fans also engage in culturally resonant fan practices that use Black cultural commonplaces and center Black experiences. Dem Thrones fans draw on vernaculars and Black cult media to interpret the show through Black cultural lenses. They also use strategies for reading otherwise absent Black cultural specificity into the text. Seizing on resemblances to Black linguistic, aesthetic, or social practices, Dem Thrones fan map Black culture onto a text, creating opportunities for identification despite a dearth of Black representation
Reading the "Apocryphon of John" as Genesis fan fiction
No full textThis reading of the late antique Coptic apocryphal work the Apocryphon of John (Ap. John) as Bible fan fiction finds that Ap. John uses the same transformative techniques as fan fiction, but that the manner in which these transformations are legitimized depends on the Christian tradition Ap. John is part of. Several strategies for transforming canon are operative in Ap. John. Even when Genesis is subverted in Ap. John, the rewriting of canonical material is legitimized through strategies already established in other biblical texts. In this manner, Ap. John uses canon to subvert canon
Fan studies in psychology: A road less traveled
No full textThis article describes the methods and materials used in my various studies of fan cultures in the years from 1988 to 2018. It delineates a mixed methods/multi-perspectivist approach and describes the process by which fan groups were selected and studied. Contrary to the concept of "aca-fan," an academic who studies a fan group of which she or he is already a part, this article describes the engagement of a number of fan groups with whom I was not already involved. I traveled throughout North American and Europe in order to observe fan behavior across the lifespan and across a number of different cultures . Both pop star musicians' fans and television fans were included. Immersion in the fan culture was the goal in each case with each study lasting anywhere from four to twelve years
"Fandom as classroom practice: A teaching guide," edited by Katherine Anderson Howell
No full textReview of Katherine Anderson Howell, editor. Fandom as classroom practice: A teaching guide. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2018, paperback, $70 (168p), ISBN 9781609385675
"Framing fan fiction: Literary and social practices in fan fiction communities," by Kristina Busse
No full textReview of Kristina Busse. Framing fan fiction: Literary and social practices in fan fiction communities. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2017, paperback, $45 (262p) ISBN 978-9888390809
On [dis]play: Outlier resistance and the matter of racebending superhero cosplay
No full textA consideration of minoritarian fan responses to minoritarian representation within the Western mainstream superhero genre reveals that minoritarian representation within the genre—on and off page and screen—is notoriously problematic. Yet despite the absences, exclusions, and periodic hostility, the genre remains popular with minoritarian fans and audiences. But how do fans of color keep a beloved, yet often toxic, genre alive and meaningful? This essay considers this question by reviewing resistive and transgressive meaning-making strategies adopted by excluded and maligned superhero fans. Through the lenses of ethno- and Afrofuturism, it unpacks racebending cosplay: an embodied costuming practice—anchored in broader activist traditions of racebending—that reworks the source character's established race and ethnicity. Spotlighting lived experience as a distinguishing and critical aspect of resistance this essay witnesses how, by calling out and disrupting the whiteness of mainstream Western superhero culture, racebending cosplayers perform a powerful form of resistance
Is gender just a costume? An exploratory study of crossplay
No full textCosplay, a portmanteau of costume and play, is a costume inspired by a fictional character originating from a variety of media texts and is typically worn to pop culture conventions. When cosplayers dress up as a fictional character of a different gender than the cosplayer's self-identified gender, this is known as crossplay. It has been argued that this fannish activity challenges status quo notions of gender through bodily performance, but some scholars have been skeptical about the emancipatory politics surrounding crossplay culture. Thus, an online survey probed on the motivations to do crossplay as well as on the lived experiences of crossplayers. Responses to questions about crossplay motivations as well as social interactions that occurred while wearing crossplay were analyzed using the grounded theory approach. Results suggest that respondents are motivated to perform crossplay by an attachment to a favorite fictional character rather than to express alternative gender identities. However, some respondents indicated that crossplay was a socially acceptable way to present oneself as another gender. A close look at participants' responses about positive and negative feedback from other convention attendees while the participants were engaging in crossplay indicates that gender inequality persists for self-identified men and nonbinary individuals who choose to dress as female characters. This suggests that masculine performativity remains hegemonic even within the play space of fan conventions