[Commlist] CFP: Fandom and Controversy - Special issue of American Behavioral Scientist

*CFP: Fandom and Controversy*

*Special issue of American Behavioral Scientist edited by Rebecca 
Williams and Lucy Bennett*

In 2005, /American Behavioral Scientist/ published a special issue on 
Fandom, which contained articles that continue to resonate and influence 
the field today. This proposed special issue seeks to offer a follow-up 
to that foundational issue, offering new perspectives on fan cultures 
which respond to the changes that have happened in the fifteen years 
since its publication and acknowledging the complex cultural, social and 
political landscape that we currently occupy. The issue seeks to 
showcase voices from both established and emerging scholars, offering 
work that addresses these key concerns from a range of perspectives. Its 
focus is on the relationship between fandom and moments of fissure or 
controversy, including how this intersects with the current political 
and cultural moment.

Although fandom can very often involve admiration and pleasure towards a 
person or text, there are also moments where disappointment, shame, and 
displeasure occur (Jones 2018). In the past decade accusations of sexual 
harassment and assault surrounding celebrities such as Michael Jackson, 
R, Kelly, and the spread of the #metoo hashtag, have caused some fans to 
re-evaluate their attachments to famous figures and celebrities, 
challenging how we conceive of concepts such as ‘anti-fandom’ (Gray 
2003), so-called ‘cancel culture’, or the spread of formsof ‘toxic 
fandom’ (Proctor and Kies 2018) or ‘reactionary fandom’ (Stanfill 2019). 
However, other fans have sought to maintain their fandom for these 
celebrities, offering justifications and solidarity to their object of 
fandom in the face of these controversial moments.

Indeed, the wider current social and political landscape offers a set of 
unique challenges that has a clear impact on how we understand the 
discourses and practices of fandom. As the United Kingdom deals with the 
consequences of Brexit and leaving the European Union, as Europe itself 
negotiates its future, and as the United States faces a series of new 
challenges under the Trump Presidency, the political and the personal 
intersect like never before. Meanwhile protests in Hong Kong have 
captured the world’s attention as fannish modes of communication 
including memes are appropriated for political and cultural purposes 
(Teixeira 2019). The issue thus encourages scholars from a range of 
national perspectives, especially those from non-Western countries and 
those outside of the Global North.

The emerging overlaps between fandom, controversy and the political 
moment can be seen in the use of fannish language to describe key 
politicians such as those who support the UK Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn 
as Corbynistas (see Hills 2017, Sandvoss 2017, Dean 2017), fans of the 
previous Leader Ed Miliband which led to the so-called Milifandom (see 
Hills 2015, Wahl-Jorgensen 2019, Sandvoss 2015), or the emergence of 
young female fans of former UK Prime Minister Theresa May, referred to 
as Mayllenialls (Smith 2017). The approaches of Fan Studies have been 
employed to understand loyal supporters of President Donald Trump 
(Wahl-Jorgensen 2019), whilst the tools of online fandoms such as 
forums, social media, memes and hashtags have been employed by a range 
of groups with varying political viewpoints and agendas (Sandvoss 2013, 
Booth et al 2018, Wilson 2018). The increasing celebrification of 
politics has perhaps reached its nadir in the star status of Barack 
Obama (Sandvoss 2012) and the election of Donald Trump to the office of 
President (see Negra 2016) but the blurring of boundaries between the 
political and the famous continues as rumours swirl about the intentions 
of famous figures as diverse as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and 
Disney CEO Bob Iger to run for office.

Meanwhile, existing fandoms continue to mobilise both political and 
activist efforts (Jenkins 2012, Hinck 2019) to combat human rights 
violations and respond to natural disasters (e.g. the efforts of the 
/Supernatural/ fandom in raising money for relief for victims of 
Hurricane Harvey in Texas). Other fan groups often find themselves 
thrown into unforeseen controversial political moments, as in the 
juncture of singer Ariana Grande fans with narratives around 
international terrorism after the bombing of her concert in Manchester, 
or the co-option of Taylor Swift by members of the alt-right.

Given these intertwining threads, this issue focuses on the confluence 
of fandom and controversy. Seeking contributions from a range of 
disciplines including media and cultural studies, fan studies, politics, 
celebrity studies and beyond, contributors are invited to submit 
proposals on any of the above examples, the following topics, or any 
other aspect of the linkages between fandom, controversy and politics 
(in all its forms):

  * Celebrity/fan connections
  * Discourses of “superfandom”
  * Disappointment and shame within fandom
  * Links between fandom, controversy and the public sphere (e.g. fandom
    of certain figures or political parties, fannish resistance to
    political readings of texts)
  * Fandom as citizenship/fans as citizens
  * Forms of anti-fandom or non-fandom
  * The intersections between celebrity, fandom and political culture
  * Fan activism
  * The use of social media and its language (e.g. memes, hashtags, GIFs)
  * Affect and emotion
  * The importance of places and spaces, both physical and virtual
  * The creation of transformative works (e.g. fanfiction, fan videos)
    that address these issues
  * Material cultures
  * The ethics of studying these forms of participatory culture and fandom
  * Stan culture
  * Fandom and cancel culture
  * Toxic fandom

Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words in length, plus a short 
author biography to Dr Rebecca Williams at 
(Rebecca.williams /at/ southwales.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(Rebecca.williams /at/ southwales.ac.uk)>and Dr Lucy Bennett at 
(BennettL /at/ cardiff.ac.uk) <mailto:(BennettL /at/ cardiff.ac.uk)>by *31^st March 
2020*. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by *30^th April 2020*.

Please note than acceptance of an abstract does not guarantee 
publication. All submissions will undergo double blind peer review once 
completed articles are submitted.

*References*

Booth, Paul, Amber Davisson, Aaron Hess and Ashley Hinck (2018) 
/Poaching Politics: Online Communication During the 2016 US Presidential 
Election/, Peter Lang.

Dean, Jonathan (2017) ‘Politicising Fandom’, /The British Journal of 
Politics and International Relations/, 19 (2) 408–424.

Gray, Jonathan (2003) ‘New audiences, new textualities: anti-fans and 
non-fans’, /International Journal of Cultural Studies/, 6 (1): 64-81.

Hills, Matt (2015) ‘The ‘most unlikely’ or ‘most deserved cult’: 
citizen-fans and the authenticity of Milifandom’, /Election Analysis/ 
2015, 
http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2015/section-7-popular-culture/the-most-unlikely-or-most-deserved-cult-citizen-fans-and-the-authenticity-of-milifandom/

Hills, Matt (2017) ‘It’s the stans wot (nearly) won it’, /Election 
Analysis/, 
http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2017/section-8-personality-politics-and-popular-culture/its-the-stans-wot-nearly-won-it/

Hinck, Ashley (2019) /Politics For the Love of Fandom: Fan-Based 
Citizenship in a Digital World/, LSU Press.

Jenkins H (2012) ‘Cultural acupuncture’: Fan activism and the Harry 
Potter Alliance. /Transformative Works and Cultures /10. Available at: 
http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/305/259


Jones, Bethan (2018) ‘Navigating Grief and Disgust in Lostprophet’s 
Fandom’. In: Williams, R. ed. /Everybody Hurts: Transitions, Endings, 
and Resurrections in Fan Cultures/. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 
pp. 43-60.

Negra, Diane (2016) ‘The Reality Celebrity of Donald Trump’, /Television 
and New Media/, 17 (7).Show all authors*Diane Negra* 
<https://journals.sagepub.com/action/doSearch?target=default&ContribAuthorStored=Negra%2C+Diane>**

Sandvoss, Cornel (2012) ‘Enthusiasm, Trust, and its Erosion in Mediated 
Politics: On Fans of Obama and the Liberal Democrats’. /European Journal 
of Communication/, 27(1): 68-81.

Sandvoss C (2013) Toward an understanding of political enthusiasm as 
media fandom: Blogging, fan productivity and affect in American 
politics. /Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies 
/10(1):252–296.

Sandvoss, Cornel (2015) ‘It’s the neutrosemy, stupid!: fans, texts and 
partisanship in the 2015 General Election’, /Election Analysis/, 
http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2015/section-7-popular-culture/its-the-neutrosemy-stupid-fans-texts-and-partisanship-in-the-2015-general-election/

Sandvoss, Cornel (2017) ‘Corbyn and his fans: post-truth, myth and 
Labour’s hollow defeat’’, /Election Analysis/, 
http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2017/section-8-personality-politics-and-popular-culture/corbyn-and-his-fans-post-truth-myth-and-labours-hollow-defeat/

Smith, Patrick (2017) ‘The "Mayllennials" Are Young Women Who Love 
Theresa May And It's The Most Unlikely Fandom Of 2017’, /Buzzfeed News/, 
10 May 
2017https://www.buzzfeed.com/patricksmith/the-maylennials-are-young-women-who-love-theresa-may-and

Stanfill, Mel (2019) ‘Introduction: The Reactionary in the Fan and the 
Fan in the Reactionary’, /Television & New Media, /Online First, pp. 1 – 
12. DOI: 10.1177/1527476419879912

Teixeira, Lauren (2019) ‘China Is Sending Keyboard Warriors Over the 
Firewall’, /Foreign Policy/, 26 August 2019, 
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/26/china-is-sending-keyboard-warriors-over-the-firewall/

Wahl-Jorgensen, Karin (2019) /Emotions, Media & Politics/, Cambridge: 
Polity Press.


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