Transformative Works and Cultures - TWC (Organization for Transformative Works)
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852 research outputs found
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"Fandom unbound," edited by Mizuko Ito, Daisuke Okabe, and Izumi Tsuji
No full textBook review of Mizuko Ito, Daisuke Okabe and Izumi Tsuji, eds. Fandom unbound: Otaku culture in a connected world. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012. Kindle edition, 38 (352p) ISBN 978-0300158649
Fandom: The classroom of the future
No full textWhat is the role of the fan scholar in the age of the fan-scholar? I explore fandom as the classroom of the future—that is, as a space and as a culture that may be one of the few places where people are encouraged to think critically, to write, and to make thoughtful and critical judgments about hegemonic culture once formal schooling is complete. The type of critical thinking that can happen in fan environments could benefit our formal educational system. As fans, scholars, fan-scholars, and educators, we need to be more assertive against the encroaching normalization of commercialization, market forces, and neoliberal control over affect, both in education and out of it. We need to teach not just fan studies, but how fandom itself encourages how to be thoughtful fans in a world increasingly hostile to expressions of affect
The transformative world of winter fashion in a Nunavik village
No full textAn essay/observation of the traditional winter clothing that has been created recently by some of the Inuit of Kuujjuaraapik, Nunavik. Also includes interviews
Queering the media mix: The female gaze in Japanese fan comics
No full textThe Japanese expression "media mix" refers to multimedia marketing strategies for entertainment franchises. Although such franchises are commonly understood as being controlled by large corporations, the fans of these media properties make significant contributions to the mix, often expanding on the central themes of the source texts and queering them by rendering their subtexts explicit. In dōjinshi, or self-published fan comics, female readers create their own interpretations of stories, characters, and relationships in narratives targeted at a male demographic. In boys' love (BL) fan comics, which are notable for their focus on a romantic and often physical relationship between two male characters, the female gaze has created its own overtly homoerotic readings and interpretations that creatively subvert the phallocentrism implicit in many mainstream narratives. The interactions between texts and their readers found in dōjinshi illustrate how cycles of narrative production and consumption have changed in the face of active fan cultures. Because of the closely interrelated nature of the components of increasingly international media mixes, communities of fans have the potential to make positive and progressive contributions to the media mix ecosystem
A brief history of fan fiction in Germany
No full textBecause the history of fan fiction in Germany is not congruent with the more dominant Anglo-American history of fan fiction, it requires separate revision and evaluation. By outlining the history of fan fiction in Germany, we present and discuss certain national aspects in the development of the phenomenon, arguing that although the Internet globally links fans, the production of fan fiction is still strongly rooted in a national writing community
Exploring nonhuman perspectives in live-action role-play
No full textIn this personal essay, the author, sometimes in the voice of a live-action role-play (LARP) sword, discusses the nature of LARP materials, arguing that the costume or elements of the costume (such as a sword) are actually nonhuman actors
Finding truth in playing pretend: A reflection on cosplay
No full textCosplay fits easily in a life spent playing pretend. Upon reflection, the act of cosplaying is a practice in finding truths, not manufacturing lies
Exploring fandom and the performance paradigm: An interview with Kurt Lancaster, author of "Interacting with 'Babylon 5'"
No full textThis interview with Kurt Lancaster, conducted via e-mail in August 2014, discusses the use of the performance studies paradigm in his Interacting with "Babylon 5": Fan Performances in a Media Universe (University of Texas Press, 2001)
Dead links, vaporcuts, and creativity in fan edit replication
No full textIn my examination of a Star Wars prequel trilogy fan edit reportedly made by Topher Grace, I introduce the term vaporcut to describe fan edits with reputations that may generate critical discourse but that are not publicly released. I explore the ways some fan editors attempt to recreate intangible projects but inevitably produce variant works that reflect their own creative perspectives
What we talk about when we talk about bronies
No full textBronies, adult men who are avid fans of the girls' cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, have become a popular culture curiosity in recent years. Rather than concentrate on an ethnographic-style parsing of bronies from within the community, I take as my focus the attention paid to the brony phenomenon by those outside of it. Attempts to describe, explain, justify, and denigrate bronies have been the subject of considerable outside coverage, including newspaper articles and magazine features, feature-length documentary films, and comment sections and invective-laced blog posts. The language used to describe bronies, even if meant to be sympathetic and ultimately positive, nevertheless reveals a pervasive discomfort with men who embrace a position of nonnormative masculinity and sexuality, as well as a tendency to pathologize fandom broadly and bronies in particular. I argue that outsider coverage acknowledges and largely dismisses assumptions about bronies' potential threat as sexual predators and social misfits but falls short of affirming the genuine pleasures offered by a sparkly cartoon about ponies intended for little girls. Children's programming is highly gendered, and not taken up in the cultural conversation surrounding the brony phenomenon is the gap My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fills in the socialization and modeling of masculinity for its most enthusiastic fans