Fan CULTure: Essays on Participatory Fandom in the 21st Century

Fan CULTure: Essays on Participatory Fandom in the 21st Century 

Edited by Kristin M. Barton and Jonathan Malcolm Lampley
Foreword by Stephen J. Sansweet
Published by McFarland

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-7418-9
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-0459-6
bibliographies, index
212pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2014
Price $40.00

About the Book
Fan CULTure explores how present-day fans interact with the films, television shows, books, and pop culture artifacts they love. From creating original works of fanfiction to influencing the content of major primetime series through social media, fans are no longer passive consumers. They have evolved into active participants in creating and shaping these works. The all-new essays in this collection provide in-depth analyses of how fans interact with such popular franchises as Harry Potter, Lost, Supernatural, Lord of the Rings and Joss Whedon’s Serenity, and examines as well topics not based on media-like fans of the LEGO building blocks, Disneyland, and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow.

About the Editors
Kristin M. Barton is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication at Dalton State College in Dalton, Georgia. He lives in Woodstock, Georgia. Jonathan Malcolm Lampley, a prolific contributor to many popular-culture periodicals and publications, is a professor of English and film at Dalton State College in Georgia.

Table of Contents

Foreword (http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/excerpts/978-0-7864-7418-9.Foreword.pdf)
Stephen J. Sansweet 1
Introduction (http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/excerpts/978-0-7864-7418-9.Introduction.pdf)
Kristin M. Barton 5

Section 1: Fan Productions
Can’t Stop the Sequel: How the Serenity-Inspired Browncoats: Redemption Is Changing the Future of Fan Films (Kristin M. Barton) 9
Dark Shadows Fandom, Then and Now (1966-2013) (Jeff Thompson) 23
Spellbound: An Analysis of Adult-Oriented Harry Potter Fanfiction (Don Tresca) 36
Recut Film Trailers, Nostalgia and the Teen Film (Kathleen Williams) 47

Section 2: Social Media
Bringing Piety Back: Tim Tebow, Sports and American Culture (Susan Orenstein) 61
Fan-Made Time: The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (Owain Gwynne) 76
The Fandom Is Out There: Social Media and The X-Files Online (Bethan Jones) 92
Alternate Reality Games, Narrative Disbursement and Canon: The Lost Experience (Kent Aardse) 106

Section 3: Fan-Influenced Content
Block Party: A Look at Adult Fans of LEGO (Jennifer C. Garlen) 119
A New Kind of Pandering: Supernatural and the World of Fanfiction (Anissa M. Graham) 131 (http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/excerpts/978-0-7864-7418-9.Pandering.pdf)
Desiring the Tangible: Disneyland, Fandom and Spatial Immersion (Meyrav Koren-Kuik) 146
Chuck Versus the Advertiser: How Fan Activism and Footlong Subway Sandwiches Saved a Television Series (Kristin M. Barton) 159
"Guys, where are we?" Podcasts, Online Video and Lost’s Participatory Culture (Michael Graves) 173

Afterword: The Past and Future of Fandom Studies (Jonathan Malcolm Lampley) 191

About the Contributors 197
Index 199