Emphasising the contradictions of fandom, Matt Hills outlines how media fans have been conceptualised in cultural theory. Drawing on case studies of specific fan groups, from Elvis impersonators to X-Philes and Trekkers, Hills discusses a range of approaches to fandom, from the Frankfurt School to psychoanalytic readings, and asks whether the development of new media creates the possibility of new forms of fandom. Fan Cultures also explores the notion of "fan cults" or followings, considering how media fans perform the distinctions of 'cult' status.
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Matt Hills is a Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University.
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13 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This really is one of the best academic books on fandom, if not the best. Hills has a remarkable ability to read in, through, and around established theory, and yet also has a nice knack of forcing theory to account for grounded realities. Each chapter boldly approaches fandom from the standpoint of an existing binary in fan studies, and as a result, the book shatters through multiple impasses (and sillinesses) in established work to date.
Fan studies is such a maligned sub-discipline in a field (that of cultural and media studies) that all too often prefers mea-culpa lashing of the media body, and that prefers disgust with or pity of the fan to any actual attempt to understand him/her. But the strength of a book like this defies critics of the sub-discipline. Indeed, I don't think it's too much to say that fan studies really comes into its own with this book. Hills has opened up ground for future work, through careful reading of past work and a sense of what is tragically missing.
As such, I would highly recommend this. If you are looking for empirical work, this is not your book (although Hills reads others' empirical work well), but if you want a macro picture of how all that work fits together, this is it.
Format:Paperback
A thoughtful and probing analysis of previous work in fan studies coupled with Hills' own theorization of certain aspects of fan practice. The first four chapters consider certain shortcomings of previous theoretical work on fandom, filling in holes and nuancing concepts core to the field but too likely to be taken as first proposed. Hills brings a great deal of knowledge and insight to his evaluation and expansion of past work.
One shortcoming of the book is its failure to work with cinema fandom to any significant degree. This is particularly problematic if one wishes to use Hills' definition of the 'cult fan' to work with the fan practices and cultures organized around movies.
Nevertheless, this is an essential piece of work for anyone interested, and it provides a solid foundation for work that might expand into unexplored territory, like that mentioned above.
It is not light reading by any stretch, though. Turn to Jenkins' TEXTUAL POACHERS and/or Fiske's UNDERSTANDING POPULAR CULTURE for an introduction, and be ready to reread Hills' book at least once anyway.
One shortcoming of the book is its failure to work with cinema fandom to any significant degree. This is particularly problematic if one wishes to use Hills' definition of the 'cult fan' to work with the fan practices and cultures organized around movies.
Nevertheless, this is an essential piece of work for anyone interested, and it provides a solid foundation for work that might expand into unexplored territory, like that mentioned above.
It is not light reading by any stretch, though. Turn to Jenkins' TEXTUAL POACHERS and/or Fiske's UNDERSTANDING POPULAR CULTURE for an introduction, and be ready to reread Hills' book at least once anyway.
By jszk
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
First of all, I'm no expert. I'm just a student trying to learn more about fan cultures.
The only reason I gave it 3 stars instead of 5 is that it's an excellent book about fan culture STUDIES, more than the fan culture in itself. There's a very good discussion about other academic works so if that's what you're looking for, this is the perfect book.
Since I'm still not completely familiarized with all the other studies mentioned, this wasn't completely helpful to me. Maybe in the future, after I've read more.
The only reason I gave it 3 stars instead of 5 is that it's an excellent book about fan culture STUDIES, more than the fan culture in itself. There's a very good discussion about other academic works so if that's what you're looking for, this is the perfect book.
Since I'm still not completely familiarized with all the other studies mentioned, this wasn't completely helpful to me. Maybe in the future, after I've read more.
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