Discourses of order and rationality: drooling R.E.M. fans as 'matter out of place'

Bennett, Lucy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2264-7596 2013. Discourses of order and rationality: drooling R.E.M. fans as 'matter out of place'. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 27 (2) , pp. 214-227. 10.1080/10304312.2013.766313

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Abstract

In this article, I explore negotiations of power surrounding online fan cultural norms, by examining how members within Murmurs.com, a community for fans of rock band R.E.M., protect valued meanings surrounding the band and their music. I demonstrate how normative fan identity within the community is driven by the notion of R.E.M and their music as holding value for the ‘thinking’ fan and explore the manner in which this is explicitly enforced when appearing under threat by what is termed in the community as drooling, which involves a strong focus on desire and the physical attributes of the object of fandom. Drawing on Mary Douglas (Douglas, M. 1966. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concept of Pollution and Taboo. Oxon: Routledge. 2002 version), I show how this behaviour is targeted as ‘matter out of place’, a pollutant within Murmurs, due to its perceived contesting of normative behaviour and how the community uses powerful discourses of order and rationality in order to protect the norms and maintain the fan culture in its ‘right way’ (Jenkins, H. 1992. Textual Poachers. London: Routledge).

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Journalism, Media and Culture
Publisher:	Routledge
ISSN:	1030-4312
Date of Acceptance:	20 November 2011
Last Modified:	27 Oct 2022 10:26
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/70255

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