The Fan Studies Network

Special Issue CFP: European Fans and European Fan Objects: Localization and Translation

Edited By Anne Kustritz and Emma England

Special Issue of Transformative Works and Cultures

*Updated Due Date for Full Articles: February 1, 2014*

The growing inter-discipline of Fan Studies often remains largely centered within North America and the English language, or alternately within Japanese popular culture. This special issue seeks to explore the state of Fan Studies and the variety of fandoms focused within the social and geographical boundaries of Europe, particularly with regard to processes of localization and translation, broadly interpreted. Papers are invited to explore European objects of fan attention, the localization of international media within specific European fan contexts, and/or the nature of the field itself as European scholars diverge from and/or reinterpret Fan Studies within local conversations and concerns. Potential avenues of exploration may include how Fan Studies is represented, studied, and received by European universities, funding bodies, and publishers. Papers on fandoms may explore how European (English and non-English speaking) fans of European and non-European objects of fan appreciation participate in fandom, the differences between internet fandoms and local/national/international fan practices, and objects of fan appreciation which originate within Europe.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
-Regional Fan Histories
-Negotiation Between International and Local Fan Infrastructures
-Local and National Adaptation of Fan Cultures and Identities
-European Fans’ Impact on International Public Policy and Industry Practice
-Fans’ Relationships to National Media Industries and Public Policy
-National and Transnational Economies within Fandom and/or Fan Studies
-Crossing National, Cultural, and Language Boundaries in Fandom and Fan Studies

-Translation, Both Linguistic and Cultural

-Fans’ Local and International Languages and Economies of Desire

-Framing Local European Fan Objects and Cultures within Fan Studies

Submission guidelines

TWC accommodates academic articles of varying scope as well as other forms that embrace the technical possibilities of the Web and test the limits of the genre of academic writing. Contributors are encouraged to include embedded links, images, and videos in their articles or to propose submissions in alternative formats that might comprise interviews, collaborations, or video/multimedia works. We are also seeking reviews of relevant books, events, courses, platforms, or projects.

Theory: Often interdisciplinary essays with a conceptual focus and a theoretical frame that offer expansive interventions in the field. Blinded peer review. Length: 5,000–8,000 words plus a 100–250-word abstract.

Praxis: Analyses of particular cases that may apply a specific theory or framework to an artifact; explicate fan practice or formations; or perform a detailed reading of a text. Blinded peer review. Length: 4,000–7,000 words plus a 100–250-word abstract.

Symposium: Short pieces that provide insight into current developments and debates. Nonblinded editorial review. Length: 1,500–2,500 words.

Submissions are accepted online only. Please visit TWC’s Web site (http://journal.transformativeworks.org/) for complete submission guidelines, or e-mail the TWC Editor (editor AT transformativeworks.org).

Contact

We encourage potential contributors to contact the guest editor with inquiries or proposals: Anne Kustritz and Emma England, University of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (EuropeanFandoms at hotmail.co.uk)

Transformative Works and Cultures (TWC), ISSN 1941-2258, is an online-only Gold Open Access publication of the nonprofit Organization for Transformative Works (http://transformativeworks.org/) copyrighted under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). Contact the editors with questions (http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/about/contact).