“I am fan of an entire universe created by fans rather than just the source text on its own.” An exploration of the new dimensions facilitated by convergence culture with regards to fandom BA Thesis Renske Jacobs Student number: 2011467/u500734 Online Culture: Digital Media Department of Culture Studies School of Humanities and Digital Sciences July 2020 Supervisor: dr. S.E. van der Beek Second reader: dr. M. Hou 1 Table of Contents 1 Introduction 4 1.1 Relevance of the study 4 1.2 Setup and research questions 5 2 Theoretical Framework 6 2.1 Convergence Culture 6 2.1.1 Participatory Culture` 7 2.1.2 Transmedia Design 8 2.2 Fandom 8 2.2.1 Fans 9 2.2.2 Media Fandom 10 2.2.3 Online Fandom 12 2.3 Areas of Fandom 13 2.3.1 Practices 13 2.3.2 Affectivity 14 2.3.3 Social dynamics 16 3 Methodology 18 3.1 Case Studies 18 3.2 Research Strategies 20 3.2.1 Insider Ethnography 20 3.2.2 Qualitative Interviewing 23 A. Participants 23 B. Procedure 24 C. Data Analysis 25 4 Results 27 4.1 How do contemporary fandoms make use of new dimensions facilitated by convergence culture with regards to practices? 27 4.1.1 Creating fanon and lingo: Transmedia Design 27 A. Fanon 27 B. Lingo 29 4.1.2 Promotion by fans: Fan Labor 30 4.1.3 “Fangirling”: Expressing Fandom 33 4.2 How do contemporary fandoms make use of new dimensions facilitated by convergence culture with regards to affectivity? 35 4.2.1 Stereotypes 35 4.2.2 Identification and Meaning 36 2 4.3 How do contemporary fandoms make use of new dimensions facilitated by convergence culture with regards to social dynamics? 38 4.3.1 Hierarchies within Fandoms 38 4.3.2 The Power of Social Media: Maintenance & Internet Friendships 40 5 Conclusions and Discussion 43 5.1 Convergence Culture and Fan Practices 43 5.2 Convergence Culture and Fan Affectivity 45 5.3 Convergence Culture and Social Fan Dynamics 45 5.4 Conclusion and Suggestions for further Research 46 5.5 Limitations of the Study 47 References 49 Appendices 52 Appendix A – General overview of participants in the interviews 52 Appendix B – Information letter used for this study 53 Appendix C – Consent form used for this study 56 Appendix D – Interview questions used for this study 57 3 1. Introduction The field of fan studies is an everchanging and dynamic field of research. With the development of the Internet – and more specifically, the Web 2.0 – fans have been provided with a new platform to express their fandom and with opportunities for new types of fan practices (Lamerichs, 2018, pp.20-21). This online visibility has offered a new area of focus within the field of fan studies, namely online fandom and the way it compares to, differs from or complements offline fandom discourses. In 2006, Henry Jenkins introduced the topic of convergence culture (Jenkins, 2006, p.2). Convergence culture to him, is the culture in which content flows dynamically across media, in which multiple media industries cooperate and in which media audiences are on a hunt for bits of entertainment that they enjoy for which they will go to great lengths to be able to consume it. This concept is an interesting phenomenon, since it partakes in a participatory cultural setting. Different cultural practices are being facilitated by this, such as transmedia design and hierarchy construction which is enabled by convergence culture its underlying power dynamics. Convergence culture as a process thus facilitates new dimensions of cultural practices. This thesis focuses on the way contemporary fandoms make use of these new dimensions facilitated by convergence culture. 1.1 Relevance of the study In this thesis, I seek to explore the concept of convergence culture, the intricate world of fan communities, and the way the two influence each other. Exploring these concepts will result in an attempt at mapping out how contemporary fan communities make use of convergence culture and the new dimensions it facilitates. This thesis deals with matter that is very much of the current age we are living in; it focuses on fandom in the digital age and the way convergence culture as a process has allowed online fandoms with new dimensions for expressing their fandom. The study focuses on processes that take place in a participatory culture, which is very much a dominant culture in nowadays society and should thus not be overlooked in fan studies. Therefore, this study is very much of its time and relevant. Secondly, the current media landscape is constantly changing and so, the academic community has to change with it as well. This research contributes knowledge derived from online insider ethnography and qualitative interviewing that focusses on topics not yet extensively discussed in the field of fan studies. These topics include but are not limited to the concept of “fangirling”, internet friendships, and the power of social media with regards to maintaining fandoms and their scope. Lastly, this study has a very specific focus, namely the way fandoms make use of new dimensions facilitated by convergence culture. These new 4 dimensions have constituted a new definition of what fandom is, namely fandom as those groups of individuals that actively go into dialogue with a source text of which they are a fan across different platforms. This new understanding of fandom has to be explored further, and this study aims at doing such a first exploration and therefore is very relevant. 1.2 Setup and research questions In my theoretical framework, I outline the most important academic concepts that are relevant for my study. This includes academic literature and contemporary stances on concepts such as convergence culture, participatory culture, transmedia design, fandom, fans, media fandom, online fandom, fan practices, affectivity within fandom and social dynamics. In the methodology, I will defend my choices for a digital ethnographic approach, with focuses on insider ethnography, case studies, and qualitative interviewing. In the methodology part, I will also introduce my case studies and the participants, and will reflect on my position as an aca-fan. The results and conclusions are aimed at answering the central research question: How do contemporary fandoms make use of new dimensions facilitated by convergence culture? In order to help myself in constructing an answer to the final research question, three sub-research questions where constructed based on the three central areas that are relevant in this study. The results and conclusions both follow the sub-research questions as guidelines through the process. The sub-research questions are phrased as the following: 1. How do contemporary fandoms make use of new dimensions facilitated by convergence culture with regards to practices? 2. How do contemporary fandoms make use of new dimensions facilitated by convergence culture with regards to affectivity? 3. How do contemporary fandoms make use of new dimensions facilitated by convergence culture with regards to social dynamics? 5 2. Theoretical Framework 2.1 Convergence culture Since this research focuses on convergence culture and the way it influences fandom, we first need to correctly understand what is meant with “convergence culture”. In order to correctly understand what the concept entails, we need to look at its roots and its related notions. Henry Jenkins introduces the concept in his book Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (2006) alongside the two related concepts of “participatory culture” and “transmedia storytelling”. As Jenkins says in the introduction: “Welcome to convergence culture, where old and new media collide, where grassroots and corporate media intersect, where the power of the media producer and the power of the media consumer interact in unpredictable ways.” (p.2) Through the concept of convergence culture, we are able to study a culture in which content flows from one medium to another, in which multiple media industries cooperate and in which media audiences are on a big search for the type of entertainment they want and for which they will go to great lengths. Where once a book was a book, and a movie was a movie, books can now become scripts for movies and games, and can inspire unauthorized authors to write their own stories inspired by this source text. Content flows from medium to medium, and is constantly rewritten, repurposed and re-interpreted. Important to note here is that a “source text” does not necessarily only include forms of actual textual sources; a source text is understood in this research as a cultural artefact. The concept of a source text thus includes a broad variety of “things” such as literal texts, music, videos, people or even someone their aesthetic. In Convergence Culture Reconsidered (2015, pp.15-16), Georgi and Glaser note on the idea that multiple scholars, such as Jenkins (2006, p.11) himself and Van Dijck (2013, p.14) share the idea that not only technological developments have made convergence culture what it is. The process of globalization, for example, plays a big role in the emergence of convergence culture. Now that people have the opportunity to go wherever they want quickly – may this be by physically going somewhere else, or by connecting digitally with someone who is somewhere else – the spread of stories from these new places goes quicker as well. We are also more interested in stories from these other places that are now reachable for us, and therefore these stories are more likely to be retold. As Georgi and Glaser (2015) explain, the shared idea about convergence culture is that it is influenced by different technological, social, cultural and global changes (p.15).