[ecrea] new book: The Ashgate Research Companion to Fan Cultures

The Ashgate Research Companion to Fan Cultures

    Imprint: Ashgate
    Published: September 2014
    Format: 244 x 169 mm
    Extent: 318 pages
    Binding: Hardback
    Other editions: ebook PDF, ebook ePUB
    ISBN: 978-1-4094-5562-2
    ISBN Short: 9781409455622
    BL Reference: 306'.1
    LoC Control No: 2014006155


    Edited by Linda Duits, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, Koos 
Zwaan, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands and 
Stijn Reijnders, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Fans constitute a very special kind of audience. They have been 
marginalized, ridiculed and stigmatized, yet at the same time they seem 
to represent the vanguard of new relationships with and within the 
media. ‘Participatory culture’ has become the new normative standard. 
Concepts derived from early fan studies, such as transmedial 
storytelling and co-creation, are now the standard fare of journalism 
and marketing text books alike. Indeed, usage of the word fan has become 
ubiquitous. The Ashgate Research Companion to Fan Cultures problematizes 
this exaltation of fans and offers a comprehensive examination of the 
current state of the field. Bringing together the latest international 
research, it explores the conceptualization of ‘the fan’ and the 
significance of relationships between fans and producers, with 
particular attention to the intersection between online spaces and 
offline places.

    The twenty-two chapters of this volume elucidate the key themes of 
the fan studies vernacular. As the contributing authors draw from recent 
empirical work around the globe, the book provides fresh insights and 
innovative angles on the latest developments within fan cultures, both 
online and offline. Because the volume is specifically set up as 
companion for researchers, the chapters include recommendations for the 
further study of fan cultures. As such, it represents an essential 
reference volume for researchers and scholars in the fields of cultural 
and media studies, communication, cultural geography and the sociology 
of culture.

    Contents: Introduction, Koos Zwaan, Linda Duits and Stijn 
Reijnders. Part I Re-defining the Fan: Returning to ‘becoming-a-fan’ 
stories: theorising transformational objects and the emergence/extension 
of fandom, Matt Hills; Populating the universe: toy collecting and adult 
lives, Kristen N. Bryant, Denise D. Bielby and C. Lee Harrington; Much 
ado about Keanu Reeves: the drama of ageing in online fandom, Shenja van 
der Graaf; Music for (something other than) pleasure: anti-fans and the 
other side of popular music appeal, Liz Giuffre; A severe case of 
disliking bimbo Heidi, scumbag Jesse and bastard Tiger: analysing 
celebrities’ online anti-fans, Nathalie Claessens and Hilde Van den 
Bulck; Fandom as survival in media life, The Janissary Collective; From 
interpretive communities to interpretative fairs: ordinary fandom, 
textual selection and digital media, Cornel Sandvoss and Laura Kearns. 
Part II Fans and Producers: Fan/celebrity interactions and social media: 
connectivity and engagement in Lady Gaga fandom, Lucy Bennett; Fans of 
folklore performances: identifying a new relationship between 
communication and marketing, Angela Chang; Investors and patrons, 
gatekeepers and social capital: representations and experiences of fans’ 
participation in fan funding, Francesco D’Amato; Music fans as mediators 
in the age of digital reproduction, Arturo Arriagada and Victor Cruz; 
Celebrity: the return of the repressed in fan studies?, Mark Duffett; 
Fans who cut their soaps queer: a queer theoretical study into online 
fandom of gay television representation, Frederik Dhaenens and Sofie Van 
Bauwel. Part III Localities of Fandom: Transnational cultural fandom, 
Hye-Kyung Lee; Retreating behind the scenes: the ‘less’-civilizing 
impact of virtual spaces on the Irish heavy metal scene, Gary Sinclair; 
‘Kvlt-er than thou’: power, suspicion and nostalgia within black metal 
fandom, Ross Hagen; A decade in the life of online fan communities, Ruth 
A. Deller; Placing fan cultures: xenites in the transnational spaces of 
fandom, Kaarina Nikunen; Embodied fantasy: the affective space of anime 
conventions, Nicolle Lamerichs; Watching football in the fan park: 
mediatization, spectatorship and fan identity, Karin Becker, Robert 
Kautsky and Andreas Widholm; ‘We’re not racist, we only hate Mancs’: 
post-subculture and football fandom, Steve Redhead. Index.

    About the Editor: Linda Duits is an affiliate researcher with the 
Institute for Cultural Inquiry at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, 
and publicist specialized in popular culture.

    Koos Zwaan is Associate Professor in Media, Culture and Citizenship 
at the Inholland University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands, and 
co-editor of Adapting Idols: Authenticity, Identity and Performance in a 
Global Television Format.

    Stijn Reijnders is Associate Professor in Cultural Heritage at 
Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and author of Places of 
the Imagination: Media, Tourism, Culture.

    Reviews: ‘This book is special. The collection confidently 
addresses fan cultures across politics, economics, production, 
consumption, identity and performance. It covers the diversity of 
ordinary fans, superfans and anti-fans, on topics from sports and music, 
to toys and television. If you want to understand fans then get this book.’
    Annette Hill, Lund University, Sweden

    ‘This volume is excellent evidence of how fan studies have matured 
and diversified in the past decades. It brings together all the experts 
in the field, and shows an impressive range of theoretical perspectives 
and inspiring case studies. Well written and well researched, this is a 
must-have for scholars of fandom and media culture.’
    Liesbet van Zoonen, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 
and Loughborough University, UK


http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409455622
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