by Myc Wiatrowski
This paper grew out of undergraduate research begun at The Ohio State University and revisited in new form during graduate courses at Bowling Green State University.
Heavily revised and abbreviated portions of this work were presented as part of panels for: "The Fourth Annual Folklore and Ethnomusicology Joint University Conference" at Indiana University and "The Midwest Graduate Research Symposium" at The University of Toledo. Draft only. Edits pending
Studies of fan groups in recent years have increasingly focused on the internet as a locus of communal activity for... more
Studies of fan groups in recent years have increasingly focused on the internet as a locus of communal activity for participants. Certainly this is not an unexpected paradigm shift. Prior to the advent of the internet, and its subsequent adoption by fan communities, being a fan was largely a proposition that required participants to engage in physical encounters where culture was transmitted on a personal, often individual level. However, as the internet collapses barriers of time and space fandoms have become a well connected global village capable of coordinated and immediate worldwide participation.
As involvement in these mediated cyber modes of community formation and maintenance increases one must wonder what is at stake for these newly minted online fandoms. In this work the author will take the position of arguing that these groups form not only as a means of expressing communal identity but also as a method of asserting their hegemonic control over a collective ‘base text.’ This essay explores the formation of online communities around specific cultural artifacts and seeks to define what is meant in describing these mediated cultures as a ‘group.’ Much of the argument will center on the power dispute over hegemonic control between fans of a cultural artifact and the original producers of that text, situating this conflict in the fan experience. This dispute between cultural producers and consumers will bring sharply into focus the capabilities of online media and expose one of the myriad reasons why fandoms create and function in virtual spaces.
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