Over the last week, we received many responses to the question how RPF can operate without a canon text, the majority of them among the lines of much the same way non-RPF fandoms do: by constantly negotiating fanon interpretations. It
A network of early zine making communities
Fanzine publishing remains highly receptive to new participants. As Constance Penley (1991) notes, fanzine editors are torn between competing impulses toward “professionalism” (the development of high technical standards and the showcasing of remarkable accomplishments) and “acceptance” (openness and accessibility for
Early conventions in fanzines
(Academic’s writing on primary or even exclusive focus on Star Trek zines) reflects the important role of Trek fandom in developing conventions and setting the standard for media zine publishing (adopting them from older forms found in literary science fiction
Alienation in filk
The bankrupt values and lack of imagination filkers recognize in media producers and literary hacks get mapped onto the larger social order through an evocation of a long-standing distinction between fan culture and the mundane world. This distinction is partially
Mainstream ideologies and transformative works
In fact, much of the interests of fans and their texts for cultural studies lie precisely in the ways the ambiguities of popularly produced meanings mirror fault lines within the dominant ideology, as popular readers attempt to build their culture
Textual poacher reread, part 2
The fans’ response typically involves not simply facination or adoration but also frustration and antagonism, and it is the combination of the two responses which motivates their active engagement with the media. Because popular narratives often fail to satisfy, fans
Transformative fandom and media fandom
I am rereading Henry Jenkin’s Textual Poacher (after all, going back to one’s roots is not an unusual habit around this time of the year) and I stumbled upon this statement: There are, of course, many different type of fans