Thesis advisor: Juliet Schor / As cult, quality, and mainstream television have merged, a new breed of show has evolved; such shows raise complicated themes and incorporate deep meanings. Drawing from Abercrombie and Longhurst’s (1998) audience continuum, this study focuses on the more casual portion of fandom previously overlooked in fan studies. These “everyday fans” differ from their cultist and enthusiast counterparts by limiting television to a hobby, not engaging in creative production, and not seeking out fan networks. The interviews with sixteen everyday fans as well as four cultists/enthusiasts ground Lost fandom in previous fan traditions and also explore the experience of a previously overlooked segment of the audience. Using ABC's LOST, this study shows how mainstream, everyday fans often unconsciously think about practical and profound issues of everyday philosophy simply by following characters and storylines. In effect, viewers of the show become "accidental intellectuals." LOST raises issues of love, redemption, science versus faith and good versus evil. The interviews with everyday fans reflect that viewers were not only using critical thinking in puzzling out the show’s mysteries but also engaging in deep analysis, personal identification, and the pondering of profound moral dilemmas through the medium of the characters, often without realizing it. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.

Syfte: Studiens syfte är att belysa och analysera, men även att problematisera hur podcasten kan fungera som arena för identitetsskapande och dess funktion för de unga vuxnas fansutövande. Ett viktigt initialläge är att identitetsskapandet i synnerhet är något som äger rum i vardagen. Vi har i vår studie använt Alex & Sigges podcast och dess fans som ett fallstudium, med avsikt att ge kunskap och lärdomar för ett större område.  Frågeställningar:  Hur kan man tolka och förstå Alex och Sigges följarskara utifrån idéer om fandom? Vilken betydelse beskriver de unga vuxna följarna att Alex & Sigges podcast har för deras identitetsskapande? Metod och material: Kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer med åtta unga vuxna i åldrarna 20-30. Huvudresultat: Alex & Sigges podcast inbegriper olika delar av livet som fansen kan känna igen sig i och föra över till sina egna liv och identiteter.

The aim of this essay is to examine fan culture’s role in Swedish public libraries. I have interviewed, via email, six librarians who encounter and use fan culture in their daily work. The theoretical elements of my essay are based on a modified set of theories by Dorte Skot-Hansen that identifies six ideal types of cultural political rationalities. My study reveals that fan culture is used in Swedish libraries as a tool in increasing user participation in library activities. As a tool it is used first and foremost to attract young people to the library and to present the library as an environment that is welcoming to all cultures and all kinds of users. Interview responses suggest that there is a high demand for events connected to certain types of fan culture. I also draw the conclusion that the use of fan culture in a public library setting is facilitated by the interactiveness afforded by Library 2.0 tools.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Essa dissertaÃÃo pretende analisar as aÃÃes de um grupo de torcedores do Fortaleza Esporte Clube, denominado Movimento Independente da Torcida Tricolor, tambÃm denominado MITT, fundado em 2006, que tem como principal objetivo a reforma e ampliaÃÃo do patrimÃnio fÃsico do clube, por meio de campanhas de arrecadaÃÃo de dinheiro e material de construÃÃo. A anÃlise se dà considerando o futebol como um campo, nos termos usados por Pierre Bourdieu, um espaÃo marcado pela disputa de um capital simbÃlico prÃprio e formas de consagraÃÃo especÃficas. Partindo das opiniÃes dos torcedores em programas esportivos de rÃdio e discussÃes em fÃruns virtuais, bem como da observaÃÃo das reuniÃes realizadas pelo MITT, observou-se que, desde sua fundaÃÃo, o grupo tem conquistado prestÃgio, sendo considerado pelos torcedores um modelo a ser seguido. Esse crescimento do valor da associaÃÃo, nesse espaÃo social onde a dÃdiva, o dar sem esperar algo em troca, o sacrifÃcio em nome de algo maior (o clube) e a supressÃo dos interesses individuais sÃo considerados valores supremos, tem sido conquistado a partir de dois modos de manifestaÃÃo pÃblica de desinteresse: primeiro, por algum ganho financeiro, explicitada pela constante divulgaÃÃo nos meios de comunicaÃÃo das prestaÃÃes de conta do que à arrecadado junto aos torcedores, e finalmente pela renÃncia da busca de consagraÃÃo, ou seja, pela prÃpria forma especÃfica de capital simbÃlico aà em jogo. / This dissertation intends to analyze the actions of a group of supporters of the Fortaleza Esporte Clube, named Movimento Independente da Torcida Tricolor, also called MITT, founded in 2006,whose main objective is there form and expansion of physical assets of the club, through campaigns raising money and building materials. The analysis considers football as a field, in terms used by Pierre Bourdieu, a space defined by the competition of a very symbolic capital and specific forms of consecration. Based on the opinions of the fans in sports radio programs and discussions in online forums, as well as the observation of meetings held by the MITT, it was observed that, since its founding, the group has gained prestige and is considered by fans as a model to be followed. This growth in the value of the association, in this social space where the gift, the giving without expecting something in return, the sacrifice in the name of something bigger(the club) and the suppression of individual interests are considered supreme values, has been achieved from two modes of public expression of disinterest: first, for some financial gain, explained by the constant publication in the media of the benefits of account of what is collected from the fans, and finally by renouncing the pursuit of consecration, i.e., by the very specific form of symbolic capital at stake.

Korea has become a strong influencer of global popular culture. With a handful of Korean celebrities entering mainstream U.S. pop music, Hallyu, the Korean Wave, has been growing tremendously in popularity. Following this global trend, American audiences are increasingly tuning into K-pop. The current study uses Q-sort methodology to investigate the motives, opinions, and attitudes of American fans of K-pop, specifically to find what drives people to seek music whose roots lie in an unfamiliar cultural landscape. Study results show that non-Korean K-pop fans in the United States fall into three distinct groups: the human lovers ("Honey honey, how you thrill me"), the product and production appreciators ("Music is my life"), and the social connectors ("With a little help from my friends"). Although the music appreciators and the socializers have been identified in previous K-pop research, the "Honey honey" group is a new category in K-pop culture research.

Among various fan sites dedicated to pop stars, GagaDaily is one prominent online collective that centers around Lady Gaga. This study is a piece of ethnographic research focused on two claims – GagaDaily constitutes a Community of Practice (Eckert, 2006) in an online setting, and the regular use of humor by users fulfills social and pragmatic roles in the discourse. Communicative phenomena (both textual and graphic) that characterize the linguistic repertoire of GagaDaily members were catalogued from the first 100 pages of one thread within the forums. These data were grouped into categories corresponding to different dimensions of language use as well as media/literary devices. Alongside a quantitative analysis of various tokens and types of data, a qualitative examination of selected excerpts from the sample confirm the veracity of the two main claims. When analyzed with regard to Wenger’s definition of a Community of Practice (Wenger, 2009), GagaDaily meets all three of his requirements. Likewise, the analysis of humor reveal that GagaDaily users regularly engage in the first dichotomy of the tactics of intersubjectivity, adequation and distinction (Bucholtz & Hall, 2004) and incorporate GIF images in their humor to express their alignment with stance objects (DuBois, 2007) and other members.

This dissertation is a case study of the dissemination and circulation of Japanese popular cultures in the U.S., specifically focusing on the collective reception practices of individuals who identify as fans of Japanese animation, comic books, and video games. The key questions driving this project are: what difference does it make that young Americans are consuming popular cultures that are 1) international in origin and 2) specifically Japanese in origin? To answer these questions I carried out ethnographic research - such as subject interviews, questionnaires, and participant observation - to understand the significance of young adults' interest in Japanese animation and comic book works (usually referred to as "anime" and "manga," respectively). In response to my ethnographic investigation of U.S. fans' practices and experiences, I argue that many young Americans use their practices of consuming and circulating these international popular cultures to transform their immediate social landscapes, and therefore, their social and national identities as well. I also draw on methodologies from a variety of disciplines, pairing ethnographic fieldwork practices with audience reception and fandom studies, transnational media studies, and book studies approaches in order make connections between the social, cultural, performative, and national dimensions of Japanese popular culture fandom in the U.S. In addition to exploring subjects' relationship to the texts they consume, I also target the embodied spaces and processes by which Japanese popular culture is actually circulated and experienced by local U.S. audience groups. In doing so, I strive to follow the "digital life" Japanese popular culture has taken in its jump to English-language translation world-wide and the significant role fans have played in facilitating unofficial flows of Japanese popular culture through specific translation practices. I examine the scholarly and fandom struggle over ideological questions of the "authenticity" and "Americanization" of adaptations of Japanese media in the North American marketplace, as well as the struggle between fans and official adapters to assert forms of ownership over these representations. Such struggles involve these groups' often conflicting practices of adaptation, translation, and circulation of these cultures. This research adds an important dimension to current scholarship on cultural manifestations of globalization and so-called "Americanization" processes as I show how commodities from outside the U.S. are first received by U.S. audiences and then transformed through this audience's participatory engagement with the production and circulation of these works in the English language. As such, this research engages with key issues of cultural transmission, translation, practices of media localization, transnational flows, and identity formation and fandom.

<p>This Master´s thesis examines the conceptual ideas of science fiction and science fiction fandom produced in the Swedish fanzine Science Fiction Forum (1960-) between the years 1960 and 1980. Science Fiction Forum was and still is a fanzine published by Skandinavisk Förening för Science Fiction (Scandinavian Science Fiction Club). Both the club and the fanzine are a part of the phenomenon called fandom.</p><p>A fandom is a collective of people called fans who form a community by sharing a special interest in a special object. The fanzine is one of the many material products produced by fans within a certain fandom. Science Fiction Forum and Skandinavisk Förening för Science Fiction were founded in 1959 and are a part of swedish science fiction fandom, where the object of fandom is literary science fiction..</p><p>The primary focus of this thesis is the meta discussion on science fiction and science fiction fandom in Science Fiction Forum. The examination is organized around five different questions; what were the conceptual ideas of science fiction in the fanzine, how was the genre defined by the writers of the fanzine, what were the conceptual ideas of fandom, how did the writers of the fanzine view the status of the genre outside fandom and how did the writers of the fanzine answer the critics of the genre.</p><p>The analysis shows that the discussion on science fiction and fandom in Science Fiction Forum functioned as a way to interpretate and produce meaning to the reading of science fiction and fan identity. The result is supported by other research on fandom, which shows that there is an ongoing discussion between fans within fandom about the reading and understanding of the object of fandom. It is a constant discussion were different interpretations of the object of fandom are revalued and renegotiated.</p>

This Master´s thesis examines the conceptual ideas of science fiction and science fiction fandom produced in the Swedish fanzine Science Fiction Forum (1960-) between the years 1960 and 1980. Science Fiction Forum was and still is a fanzine published by Skandinavisk Förening för Science Fiction (Scandinavian Science Fiction Club). Both the club and the fanzine are a part of the phenomenon called fandom. A fandom is a collective of people called fans who form a community by sharing a special interest in a special object. The fanzine is one of the many material products produced by fans within a certain fandom. Science Fiction Forum and Skandinavisk Förening för Science Fiction were founded in 1959 and are a part of swedish science fiction fandom, where the object of fandom is literary science fiction.. The primary focus of this thesis is the meta discussion on science fiction and science fiction fandom in Science Fiction Forum. The examination is organized around five different questions; what were the conceptual ideas of science fiction in the fanzine, how was the genre defined by the writers of the fanzine, what were the conceptual ideas of fandom, how did the writers of the fanzine view the status of the genre outside fandom and how did the writers of the fanzine answer the critics of the genre. The analysis shows that the discussion on science fiction and fandom in Science Fiction Forum functioned as a way to interpretate and produce meaning to the reading of science fiction and fan identity. The result is supported by other research on fandom, which shows that there is an ongoing discussion between fans within fandom about the reading and understanding of the object of fandom. It is a constant discussion were different interpretations of the object of fandom are revalued and renegotiated.

From a media industries, fan studies, and emerging socio-cultural public relations perspective, this project pulls back the Hollywood curtain to explore two questions: 1) How do TV public relations practitioners and key tastemaker/gatekeeper media define, create, build, and maintain fandom?; and 2) How do they make meaning of fandom and their agency/role in fan creation from their position of industrial producers, cultural intermediaries, members of the audience, and as fans themselves? This project brings five influential, working public relations and media professionals into a conversation about two case studies from the 2010-2011 television season – broadcast network CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 and basic cable network AMC’s The Walking Dead. Each of these shows speaks to fandom in particular ways and are representative of the industry’s current approaches in luring specific audiences to TV. This study shows that the relationship between entertainment publicists and media is dynamic, intertwined, complex, and historically hidden.