Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 8-22-2014 12:00 AM Labours Of Love: Affect, Fan Labour, And The Monetization Of Fandom Jennifer Spence The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Susan Knabe The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Jennifer Spence 2014 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Spence, Jennifer, "Labours Of Love: Affect, Fan Labour, And The Monetization Of Fandom" (2014). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 2203. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/2203 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Labours Of Love: Affect, Fan Labour, And The Monetization Of Fandom (Thesis format: Monograph) by Jennifer Spence Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Jennifer Spence 2014 Abstract Fans who launch campaigns to “save our show” or protest storytelling decisions typically see their efforts as standard fannish practices, but these “labours of love” must also be considered, as the name suggests, as labour. Using affect theory, I argue that fan activities and activism are motivated by affect, which in turn drives the affective, immaterial, and digital labour that makes up fandom.