Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World [Paperback]

Jonathan Gray (Editor), Cornel Sandvoss (Editor), C. Lee Harrington (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0814731821 | ISBN-13: 978-0814731826

We are all fans. Whether we log on to Web sites to scrutinize the latest plot turns in Lost, “stalk” our favorite celebrities on Gawker, attend gaming conventions, or simply wait with bated breath for the newest Harry Potter novel—each of us is a fan. Fandom extends beyond television and film to literature, opera, sports, and pop music, and encompasses both high and low culture.

Fandom brings together leading scholars to examine fans, their practices, and their favorite texts. This unparalleled selection of original essays examines instances across the spectrum of modern cultural consumption from Karl Marx to Paris Hilton, Buffy the Vampire Slayer to backyard wrestling, Bach fugues to Bollywood cinema¸ and nineteenth-century concert halls to computer gaming. Contributors examine fans of high cultural texts and genres, the spaces of fandom, fandom around the globe, the impact of new technologies on fandom, and the legal and historical contexts of fan activity. Fandom is key to understanding modern life in our increasingly mediated and globalized world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Thought-provoking. . . . Well-selected and challenging collection.”
-Screen

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“Fandom explores the multidimensional aspects of the fascination, enthrallment, obsession that fans have with their various interests.”
-Journal of Mass Communication Quarterly

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“Highly recommended.”
-Choice

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“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

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“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

About the Author

Jonathan Gray is associate professor of media and cultural studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is the author of Television Entertainment and Watching with The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality and co-editor of Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era and Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World (both available from NYU Press).

Cornel Sandvoss is Subject Leader in Media, Communication and Cultural Studies at the University of Surrey and author of Fans: The Mirror of Consumption.

C. Lee Harrington is professor of Sociology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In addition to her books with Denise Bielby, she is co-editor (with Jonathan Gray and Cornel Sandvoss) of Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World (NYU Press, 2007).

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: NYU Press (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814731821
• ISBN-13: 978-0814731826
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,531 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at University of Wisconsin, Madison, where I teach and research television entertainment; comedy, parody, and satire; audiences; convergence; international media; textuality, intertextuality, and paratextuality; and a bunch of other things that catch my interest along the way.

I grew up in various countries -- Canada, England, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong -- and learned to study a country and what made it tick by studying its pop culture. Thus, after two degrees studying "high" culture and literature, I turned to examining the socio-cultural importance of television, film, new media, and everyday culture.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and fun, February 5, 2008

By 

J. Aragon "Feminist Educator" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World (Paperback)

I found this book on the new books shelf at the university library. It's a cross between a media studies/cultural studies expose of the study of fan culture. The different chapters in the anthology cover different genres tv shows (Sopranos), women in violent movies (_Kill Bill_) and the aesthetics of fandom.

The book was well-written, researched, and entertaining. I ate up this book and this says lots since I'm really in research and teaching mode. This book will be best served by a lay audience who is already interested in popular culture, media studies, communication, etc. A university audience will also find this book interesting in various courses in the humanities and social sciences.

I can't decide which chapter was my favourite---they were all great. But, I do think the Into, Sopranos, and Kill Bill chapters were the highlights for me.