The Fan Studies Network

CALL FOR PAPERS: EDITED COLLECTION ON RACE IN FANDOM

Fan studies has consistently identified media or participatory fandom as an intertextual and selfreflexive communitarian space. Further, scholars have produced extremely important work concerning fan identity in these spaces, theorized mainly around the axes of gender and sexuality (Hellekson and Busse 2006; Stein 2015). However, a sustained examination of the effect of racial identity in these spaces has not yet occurred.

This edited collection takes its impulse from Rebecca Wanzo’s (2015) crucial intervention into the genealogy of fan studies that maintained that this glaring omission is not an oversight. Rather, race continues to be absent from broad-based theorizations about fan culture because it “troubles” foundational assumptions about its subversive and inclusive ethos. This collection therefore aims to investigate the ramifications of such trouble by highlighting the operations of race/racism within fandom spaces. It asks how our current conceptions of shared pleasure and intertextual communities interface with these dynamics. The collection aims to tackle these questions from a diverse array of theoretical standpoints and fan texts, also considering the complexity of the category of racial/cultural/ethnic/religious identity itself within a globalized fan-scape.

The collection will be published by a university press (proposal under negotiation) with the publication date of early 2018. Abstracts are solicited for essays of about 6000-7000 words from scholars working on any area of participatory/media fandom, with a broad approach to that term encouraged to include under-studied aspects of fan participation. Please send in 300 word abstracts and author bios to Rukmini Pande (rukmini.pande@gmail.com) by 30th May 2017.

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:
 Theoretical approaches to the category of race/racism in fandom.
 The differential operations of race/racism in transnational/transcultural fandoms.
 Approaches to racializing gender and sexuality in fanwork. Studies of non-white fanboys are especially encouraged.
 The operations of race/racism in offline spaces such fan conventions.
 The operations of race/racism in material fan practices such as cosplay, cult fan collectors, etc.
 The operations of race/racism in non-traditional participatory fandoms such as sports, music, theatre, video gaming, offline gaming, RPG’s etc.
 The issue of race/racism as both a disturbance to fan spaces and as an impulse to radical transformative work within them.
 Historical approaches to race/racism in fandom in order to expand the “canon” of participatory fandom.
 Pedagogical approaches to teaching race/racism in the fandom studies classroom.

Rukmini Pande has recently completed her PhD from the University of Western Australia. Her dissertation “Squee From The Margins: The Operations of Racial/Cultural/Ethnic Identity in Media Fandom” is currently under contract with the University of Iowa Press. She has also published on the topic of race/racism in fandom in numerous edited collection such as Seeing Fans (eds Paul Booth and Lucy Bennett) and the forthcoming Wiley Companion to Fan Studies (ed Paul Booth). She is also published in journals like Transformative Works and Cultures and The Journal of Feminist Studies.

UPDATED CFP: Sex, Subversion and Bodily Boundaries: The Darker Side of Slash Fan Fiction

Proposals are invited for essays exploring the depiction of (and engagement with) “non-normative” eroticism within online slash and femslash fan fiction.

Following the publication of Hellekson and Busse’s groundbreaking edited collection Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet (2006), academic interest in slash fiction has continued to document the evolution and development of the genre as a whole. It is generally proposed that slash fiction enjoys a simultaneous intertextual function – partly a subversive cultural dialogue and partly an unapologetically playful approach to literary convention – but a function which is ultimately more complex and nuanced than a traditional incorporation/resistance paradigm would suggest. 

This collection aims to engage directly and explicitly with some of slash fiction’s less gentle aspects in order to explore the following question: in a text which not only deliberately creates but maintains unstable, unequal and ungentle paradigms, can the same critical frameworks that depict slash fiction as a valorised form of egalitarian romance still be applied? If a text refuses to moving towards the gradual equality and intimacy inherent within Romantic convention, can the ending only be an unhappy one?
This collection of essays aims to supplement existing fan academia with a small insight into what is an underrepresented but no less prolific or popular facet of slash fiction. With this is mind, proposals are invited for essays of c.8500 words exploring the following in erotic slash fiction:

·         The exploration, portrayal and reception of BDSM encounters and relationships.

·         The portrayal of cisgender characters which challenge heteronormative patterns of behaviour, either by non-compliance or by excessive performativity. Particular interest in the dynamics generated by two ‘butch’ or ‘girly’ characters in sexual scenes and how violence is used to regulate and code ‘unacceptable’ behaviours and desires.

·         Xenofetishism and the treatment of alternative bodily configurations such as external breeding, hermaphroditic characters in slash fiction.

·         Fame and infamy within fan writing; the perks and perils of having a reputation for pushing the boundaries.

·         The treatment of trans* characters, non-binary gender, genderqueer and genderfluid characters in overtly sexual situations – both in canon and in fan texts.

·         The portrayal of abusive behaviours, rape scenes and toxic relationships and the appeal of the themes.

·         The treatment of and audience response to taboo relationships – incest, guardian/ward, underage characters and exploited characters.

·         Discussions and debates within fan communities regarding explicitly non-normative sexuality within slash fiction as a whole, particularly in regard to participation in kinkmemes, Shipping Olympics, Kink Bingo, fic requests -+etc.

·         Non-monogamy and non-monogamous characters and relationships, non-normative femininity/masculinity and any explorations thereof.

These lists are far from complete and should be taken only as a starting point, rather than definitive. 

Generally speaking, texts under discussion should have been produced, published and released within the last twenty years, although if a text beyond this timeframe is particularly significant this can be discussed – please do get in touch with your ideas. Source media includes but is not limited to: role-playing video games, webcomics, TV episodes and series, comics and graphic novels, novels and short stories, and films. Proposals are also welcome for essays exploring the unique deictic nature of slash fan fiction as an ongoing dialogue between canon, text and audience. Particular interest will be given to papers exploring how digital accessibility has contributed to its popularity as a genre, and the cultural impacts generated by the popularity of made-to-order fan fiction commissions, such as kinkmemes, Shipping Olympics, Kink Bingo, fic requests etc.

Final inclusion in the published volume will be subject to peer review.

Please send proposals of approximately 500 words plus a short biography to ashtonspacey@gmail.com by Wednesday 22^nd February 2017.

Call for Essays: Stranger Things: Eighties Nostalgia, Cynicism and Innocence

I am looking for proposals for chapters for a book on the Netflix series Stranger Things to be published by McFarland & Company. As the book title suggests, the overarching theme of the volume is how the series creates, evokes, uses and exploits the eighties, eighties culture and contemporary nostalgia for both. Successful proposals will link an aspect of Stranger Things with an eighties counterpart and explore how the series engages that aspect of Reagan-era culture.

What makes this project unique is that we will wait until season two premieres to finalize the essays, so that information on and analysis of the second season will be included in the book’s essays.  The individual essays will be 5000-7000 words each, with each essay focused on a specific aspect of the series and its intersection with the eighties.

The Deadlines:

• I will accept abstracts on a rolling basis up until April 30, 2017. Those whose abstracts are accepted will be sent the style guide and information regarding the preparation of manuscripts.
• I plan to submit the manuscript 6-8 weeks after the premiere of season two of Stranger Things. The second season will premiere on Halloween, 2017.
• Contributors must submit the first draft of their essays to me by the premiere of season two and then final draft by November 30. While this is a tight turnaround time, if the contributors have drafts in earlier that outline their theses and season one analyses, and then have four weeks to view and add in season two analyses, then we should be able to get the final manuscript to McFarland by late December.
• Please note, no extensions can be given once the show premieres, so please only submit abstracts if you are certain you can adhere to this timetable. The deadline for manuscript submission is set, so the expectation is that final essays will be in by the above dates.

I already have essays on:

Synthwave music

Eighties Frankenstein films (Reanimator, Weird Science, etc.)

The monstrous feminine

Nuclear War / Cold War anxieties

Dungeons and Dragons and moral panics

I am looking for essays on any other topic relating to the volume’s theme.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

Eighties teen films and S.T.

The centrality of the school to S.T. and its antecedents

The relationships between S.T. and specific eighties texts

Winona Ryder as eighties echo in S.T.

Echoes of eighties Stephen King in S.T.

            S.T. as echo of Reagan’s eighties

Echoes and uses of eighties visual culture

S.T. Fan studies and fandom

The influence of John Carpenter, Stephen Spielberg, Dan O’Bannon or other eighties filmmakers

Eighties pop music in S.T.

Please submit 200-500 word abstracts with a brief bio to: kwetmore@lmu.edu by April 30.

“Winter Is Coming”.  A slogan on anti-Erdogan posters in Turkey.  A banner carried by women at anti-Trump demonstrations.  A hand-written poster held up by desperate refugees held at the Greek border. The title of a book by former chess champion Gary Kasparov warning the West about Vladimir Putin.

The wide spread of the most popular slogan from the book and TV series Game of Thrones is truly remarkable.  It is being used by many to voice fears, anger and resistance to cruelty and inhumanity in many places.  Even George RR Martin declares ‘Winter is coming’ after Donald Trump’s victory.  But elsewhere the slogan is also being used as a quick reference point for sales brochures, training sessions, and policy initiatives.

What’s going on? How is this fiction series being taken up and used by so many different groups – far beyond its ‘fantasy’ world?  A major international project is right now trying to find out.  A team of 40 researchers in 12 countries is recruiting responses to a specially designed survey, gathering all kinds of people’s responses to Game of Thrones.  Already, 4,000 have completed the survey – which could throw light on the wide significance of this game-changing storyworld. Go to www.questeros.org to take part in the project, and see who we are.

To know more about the research and its purposes, contact Professor Martin Barker (mib@aber.ac.uk).

http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/announcement/view/34

Over the past five years, more and more English language transformative fandoms have gravitated to the social networking site Tumblr, moving from online communities such as LiveJournal, Dreamwidth, and Yahoo! Groups. Thus many fan communities have shifted organization structures to adapt to Tumblr’s multiple points of entry and seemingly anti-hierarchical framework. Some fans describe Tumblr as a fandom free-for-all without clear rules for engagement. Others describe this uncertain multiplicity as one of the platform’s strengths. Still others have pointed to Tumblr’s comparatively more visual interface as enabling greater global participation in heretofore monolingual fandom spaces. All of which is to say, Tumblr means many things to many people, encompassing a diversity of fandom experiences.

This special issue of TWC seeks to explore Tumblr as a (not infrequently contested) fandom platform, in which cultures of age, gender, sexuality, race, dis/ability, class, nationality, religion, language, and so on connect and sometimes clash in the contact zones of fandoms. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

* Tumblr’s influence on the production and consumption of fan fiction
* Transcultural and/or transnational fan practices and interactions on Tumblr
* Convergence of fandom and social justice concerns on Tumblr
* Tumblr fandom as a site for media literacy
* Tumblr fandom and non-normative/socially marginalized identity and community
* Marketing, media producers, and Tumblr fans
* Media discourse surrounding Tumblr fandom
* Developing aesthetics of fan work on Tumblr
* Tumblr’s role within transmedia fandom flow across platforms
* Tumblr’s cultural/discursive positioning as a youth/millennial fandom platform
* History and politics of transitioning from fandom communities (e.g. LiveJournal) to Tumblr
* How Tumblr’s interface has impacted and/or driven inter-fandom interactions and transfandom (e.g. Superwholock)

Submission guidelines

Transformative Works and Cultures (TWC, http://journal.transformativeworks.org/) is an international peer-reviewed online Gold Open Access publication of the nonprofit Organization for Transformative Works copyrighted under a Creative Commons License. TWC aims to provide a publishing outlet that welcomes fan-related topics and to promote dialogue between the academic community and the fan community. 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.

Theory: Conceptual essays. Peer review, 6,000–8,000 words.

Praxis: Case study essays. Peer review, 5,000–7,000 words.

Symposium: Short commentary. Editorial review, 1,500–2,500 words.

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—Contact guest editors Lori Morimoto, Louisa Stein, and Allison McCracken with any questions or inquiries (tumblrfandomtwc AT gmail.com).

Due date—May 1, 2017, for estimated June 2018 publication.

Fan tourism, “location vacations,” or pop-culture tourism is a growing industry across the world, changing local economies, culture, and ambiance. Fans of various pop texts and icons have been making pilgrimages to real-world locations for decades, from Abbey Road to Forks, Washington, from 221B Baker Street to Graceland, Tennessee. In Media Res is looking for explorations into fan tourism as a general cultural practice. Investigations can be through a case study of a particular fandom, location, or behavior, taking into consideration the ways that fan tourism can be beneficial and detrimental to real world economies, infrastructures, and local cultures.

Among the topics that might be examined:
Case studies of fan pilgrimages
Economic or industrial investigations of fan tourist trade
Pedagogical approaches toward teaching/studying fan tourism
Impact of fans on “destination locations” (economically/culturally/ecologically)

Proposals may be brief, but do be sure to describe the topic and key question(s) to be explored. Please submit your proposal by February 20th. If interested, please contact In Media Res (inmediares@gsu.edu) with topic proposals or for more information about the theme. Be sure to include the name of the theme week you would like to be involved within the subject line of the email.

Academics, journalists, critics, media professionals and fans are all welcome to submit proposals.

The actual piece will include either a 30-second to 3-minute clip, an image, or a slideshow that will be accompanied by a 300 to 350 word response to/contextualization of your clip, image, or slideshow. In addition to your piece, you will be expected to engage the other pieces presented that week to encourage discussion and further flesh out the individual topic in relation to the week’s theme.
About In Media Res: http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/imr/