Fandom

"A rich compendium of theory, argument, and observation of a wide variety of types of fandom - from fans of cultural theory to fans of the Sopranos and of Chekhov, from presidents who are fans of country music to fans of the news. As the active - prosumers- of the digital media's niche markets come to be increasingly central to their operation, fan studies shows us the emerging dynamics of how the cultural industries are going to work in the future." David Morley, Goldsmiths College, University of London "Highly recommended." Choice "One of the best aspects of the text is the way that the contributors do not merely typecast fans as those interested in modern and popular culture, but also examine fans of mediums typically considered 'high culture.' This makes the book much friendlier to pop-culture fans, whose practices are typically considered lowbrow and fanatical when compared to someone who holds season tickets to the opera or visits an art gallery every weekend. As a fan, it's nice to see that the behavior is not reduced to unnecessary fanaticism and is examined on a more subjective level." M/C Reviews "Fandom pushes the boundaries of fan studies in bold directions, incorporating high culture fandoms, global fan cultures, fan technologies, and antagonistic anti-fandom, while rethinking the core tenets of fan studies concerning aesthetics, place, intellectual property, and interpretive communities - all presented with a lively, accessible, and engaging writing style." Jason Mittell, Middlebury College "If you're an avid news reader, a holder of season's tickets to the symphony, a frequenter of used bookstores, or even if you've been known to scream at referees during televised games, you're a fan. In this exciting collection, we learn about why it is that certain media narratives, images, sounds, and events engage us emotionally, and what that engagement means for us personally and in our relationships with others in the increasingly global marketplace in which we live." Lynn Schofield Clark, author of From Angels to Aliens