Active audiences and fandom
Thursday, October 15, 2009 by Shell
Audience studies that emerged out of the Frankfurt school, from theorists such as Adorno and Horkheimer, placed individuals as ‘cultural dupes’ that merely absorbed texts and remained passive. In contrast many theorists including Stuart Hall and Henry Jenkins have recognised the potential for audiences to get involved. When thinking about the ability for audiences to become active a dominant example arises out of fan communities. Through the use of new technology fans of texts such as Star Wars are able to go beyond absorbing the text, by also producing their own material. Users can do this by building on the pre-existing texts. Henry Jenkins, a seminal theorist on fandom, discusses how it emphasizes the creativity of fans. One of the ways that fans do this is through the creation of animated fan fiction. Audiences are able to adapt the original story lines by placing them in situations that did not exist in the original text. In science fiction, including Star Wars there has even been the creation of ‘slash fiction’ in which characters that are heterosexual within the original text are placed in same sex relationships by the audiences.
New technology has become a facilitating factor in this process based on the ability of fans to use computer software, relatively cheaply to produce original material. However the internet has also allowed fans to create online communities based on these new productions. Through web 2.0, in particular blogs, fans can chat to other fans about projects they are currently working on and ask for feedback and advice. In this way, they can also share their ideas and contribute to others’ projects. This links back to the concept of how new media also allows audiences to work collaboratively and potentially produces a collective project. This is a further example of what was discussed in the lecture as the breaking down of a central author. Not only is the original text added to by audiences but fan fiction is also often formed by a group and not a singular author. The ability for audiences to not only create original material but also to join together with those with shared interests shows how new media may be beneficial in producing more active audiences and also helping to strengthen fan communities. While it is important to recognise the fact that there may be limitations to an individual's agency, such as lack of access to resources (digital divide) one can see that there is at least potential for audiences to move beyond the realm of consumerism.
For anyone that is interested in fandom and active audiences I would suggest reading work by Henry Jenkins, such as “Fans, bloggers and gamers: exploring participatory culture-2006.
New technology has become a facilitating factor in this process based on the ability of fans to use computer software, relatively cheaply to produce original material. However the internet has also allowed fans to create online communities based on these new productions. Through web 2.0, in particular blogs, fans can chat to other fans about projects they are currently working on and ask for feedback and advice. In this way, they can also share their ideas and contribute to others’ projects. This links back to the concept of how new media also allows audiences to work collaboratively and potentially produces a collective project. This is a further example of what was discussed in the lecture as the breaking down of a central author. Not only is the original text added to by audiences but fan fiction is also often formed by a group and not a singular author. The ability for audiences to not only create original material but also to join together with those with shared interests shows how new media may be beneficial in producing more active audiences and also helping to strengthen fan communities. While it is important to recognise the fact that there may be limitations to an individual's agency, such as lack of access to resources (digital divide) one can see that there is at least potential for audiences to move beyond the realm of consumerism.
For anyone that is interested in fandom and active audiences I would suggest reading work by Henry Jenkins, such as “Fans, bloggers and gamers: exploring participatory culture-2006.