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Tracing textual poachers: reflections on the development of fan studies and digital fandom

Bennett, Lucy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2264-7596 2014. Tracing textual poachers: reflections on the development of fan studies and digital fandom. The Journal of Fandom Studies 2 (1) , pp. 5-20. 10.1386/jfs.2.1.5_1

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Abstract

In 1992 Henry Jenkins’ influential work, Textual Poachers, was published, which contributed towards igniting the establishment of the fan studies field of research and re-morphing previous restrictive depictions of media fans. This article traces the work’s influence on my own steps as an early career researcher in the field and how it shaped my ideas and approach to scholarship. Speaking more broadly, it assesses the current state of the fan studies field, and how things have developed since Jenkins’ text was released. I reflect on what general fluxes, concerns and dimensions are currently with us, through a lens of the themes raised in Textual Poachers, most especially surrounding the development of technology and social media, methods in the field and fans’ relations with texts, assessing to what degree we have moved forward, or remained in stasis within fan studies scholarship. This study argues that technological advances have impacted on and shaped four key, often interconnected, areas of fandom and enquiry: (1) communication, (2) creativity, (3) knowledge and (4) organizational and civic power. Overall, this article shows how Textual Poachers is an invaluable source to measure the field and landscape of fandom, and determine the extent to which it has seemingly leaped forward.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Journalism, Media and Culture
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
T Technology > T Technology (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords: digital; fan studies; fandom; method; textual poachers
Publisher: Intellect
ISSN: 2046-6692
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 9 October 2017
Last Modified: 07 Nov 2023 00:59
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/70253

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