How early soap opera fans used letters to engage with creators and build community

Internet fan studies foregrounds the immersion of activities such as shipping and community building into a spaceless and timeless virtual life, as well as the importance of social media in closing the gulf between fan and creator. My work here aims to uncover the tools circa the 1970s and 1980s that enable television fans—via pen, paper, scissors, glue, or typewriter—to live their engagement and pull creators within arm’s reach.

Steuer, Leah. 2019. “Structural Affects of Soap Opera Fan Correspondence, 1970s–80s.” Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 30. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2019.1735.