Fandom Dynamics: From Consumption to Participatory Media Culture

Understanding the Fan: From Stereotype to Participatory Media Culture

Defining the Fan: Beyond Negative Connotations

To appropriately answer this question, one must first address the definition of ‘fan’. The term is an abbreviation of ‘fanatic’, which carries religious connotations, referring to devotees or those with secular faith. Historically, it has often been associated with negative societal perceptions.

Henry Jenkins and the Rejection of Fan Stereotypes

Henry Jenkins, an American media scholar and lecturer from the second half of the 20th century, extensively discusses various phenomena related to fans in his seminal book, Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. Jenkins actively rejects common fan stereotypes, such as:

• The comic, nerdy fan
• The psychotic fan
• The eroticized fan

Moreover, Jenkins posits the fan as a defensible position within mass culture, where they are otherwise often seen as a scandalous category whose interests are alien to a ‘normal’ cultural experience, treated as the ‘others’.

The Influence of Pierre Bourdieu: Taste and Social Perception

The notion of good taste, developed by Pierre Bourdieu, significantly aids Jenkins in analyzing how fans are socially perceived and why. Bourdieu argues that concepts of good taste, appropriate conduct, or aesthetic merit are neither natural nor universal. Instead, they are acquired and reflect the interests of dominant classes. Our choices are shaped by experiences as members of cultural groups, social exchanges, and institutions. As Louis Althusser suggests, ideology pre-exists the individual. This perpetuates social distinctions and class identities, promoting stereotypes and prejudices. Ultimately, this hierarchy begins to break down when fans transform from mere consumers to active producers and manipulators of meaning.

Michel de Certeau and the Concept of Bricolage

Moving on, Jenkins also references Michel de Certeau in his work. Like de Certeau, Jenkins proposes an alternative conception of fans as readers who appropriate popular texts to serve their diverse interests. These readers transform the experience of consuming culture into a rich and complex participatory culture. The term bricolage encompasses the result of the struggle between producers and consumers. In short, it is a term used to describe the struggle for authorship or the mastery of language.

The Struggle for Meaning: Producers vs. Consumers

Producers employ ‘strategies’ such as a ‘scriptural economy’ that aims to restrain the multiplicity of voices and the circulation of alternative meanings. Conversely, consumers or ‘users’ actively attempt to alter the limits imposed by producers. However, they cannot fully overcome these limitations, as evidenced by the ‘HP wars’ – the legal battles Warner Bros. fought against young fanfiction authors over the proliferation of erotic content involving their copyrighted characters. These conflicts have opened a crucial discussion: property rights over fiction should not determine how viewers understand or engage with it.

Fandom as Participatory Culture: Axel Bruns's Perspective

What is more, nowadays, fandom is increasingly seen as a series of organized efforts to influence programming decisions. Through this process, fans cease to be a mere audience and become active participants. Axel Bruns’s term, produsage, defines this previously mentioned process, highlighting how fandom evolves into a truly participatory culture.

Conclusion: Fans as Active Producers and Community Builders

In summary, fans build vibrant communities and become active producers, reclaiming media for their own purposes. They also actively struggle against the authority of ‘legitimate’ producers, asserting their role in shaping cultural narratives.