O Mighty Flist (and beyond), I seek your assistance!

[gnine]

As you may or may not know, I’m currently working on my MA in Critical Media and Cultural Studies at University of London, SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies). For my thesis, I’m delving into the question of how culture, one’s own, as well as that of the source material one is fanning on, affects how fans identify and interact with said media and the fandoms surrounding them.

I am very aware that academic scrutiny of fandom has at times been…less than pleasant, shall we say. With that in mind, I’d like to make clear that it is not my intent to place fen or fandom under the microscope, but rather to use them as one concrete example in the broader investigation of culture’s impact on the field of media studies.

The following questions I’ve split into two sections, one focused on the media itself, the other on fandom as a whole. These are just a jumping-off point; feel free to answer as many/as few of the questions as you’d like, in as much/little detail as you feel comfortable. If you’d prefer to comment anonymously or email me directly at gnine AT livejournal DOT com, that’s fine, too.

Media Questions:

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?


Fandom Questions:

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?


Additionally, there are a few details that’d be helpful for everyone to include, if they could:

Nationality:
Native language(s):
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in):
Gender (that you're most comfortable identify yourself as):
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper:
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc):
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.?


Beyond that, if there are any other details, personal experiences, general trends you’ve observed, feel free to expound. Further discussion/questions in the comments is also very welcome.

If anyone's willing to link this in their journals, I’d be grateful, as the more responses the more expansive the research.

Thanks for your help!

Comments

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

If you're just looking for raw stats, I'm pretty dull- 100% English, 80-90 United Statesian, and I'd be happy to be part of the sample.

On the other hand, I suspect my daughter might be more what you're looking for- she follows quite a bit of anime (and is off to RIT in the fall in hopes producing such things someday). If her input would be more valuable, I'll ask her.

Both, either or neither. Let me know.

[gnine.livejournal.com]

I'd love to have both you and your daughter's input, I'm looking for as wide a range and as many varying responses as I can get!

Thanks so much!

[bleedtoblue.livejournal.com]

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?

*about half

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?
*everything I fan on has been translated to English, though it didn't necessarily start that way.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?

*I started out writing fanfic for books and progressed to Japanese anime, then to manga, on to television series...and it's a big circle!

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.

*all of the above

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?

*no, I'm open to it all

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?

*pacing and cultural references

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?

*yes, in Japanese anime,manga, dōjinshi, one finds the seme/uki stereotypes.


Fandom Questions:

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?

*American or British

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?

*NO

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?

*I don't attend cons or fan events

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?

*N/A

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?

*on occasion, not often

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?

*yes

Additionally, there are a few details that’d be helpful for everyone to include, if they could:

Nationality:

*American

Native language(s):
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in):
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper:
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc):

*English

If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.?

*yes!


Beyond that, if there are any other details, personal experiences, general trends you’ve observed, feel free to expound. Further discussion/questions in the comments is also very welcome.

If people are willing to link this, I’d be grateful, as the more responses the more expansive the research.

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for this, you'll probably hear more from me in the next week or so as I go through all the data I'm getting. Again, thank you for the help!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

We've already discussed a lot of these things, obviously, but here's a few random responses:

I'm American, native English speaker, and that's the only language I usually fan in. These days most of the media I fan on seems to be English-language (American, Canadian, and British productions) but I've been into a lot of Japanese animanga and live-action dramas as well. In my experience, anime fandoms are quite a different beast from Western fandoms - for one, the fans tend to be significantly younger (at 20, I was fairly young for a Western fandom fan, fairly old for an anime fan). Possibly because America tends to view cartoons as "kid's stuff"? So some of the differences may be less cultural and more age-based. A lot of early anime fandoms also were more male than female, while as all the Western fandoms I've been in the vast majority of fans are female, so that makes a difference, too.

That being said, there's quite a lot of difference between fanworks for anime fandoms and English-language fandoms. Anime seems to inspire more fan art, and different kinds of fan art (e.g. manips are common for live-action series, never seen them for anime.) Fanfic especially is different - I tend to prefer Western-based fic, in no small part because h/c is one of my favorite genres, and it's a lot less common in anime fic. Character-centric gen fic, too, is harder to find in anime fic.

There's also certain things that only turn up in anime fic - "fangirl Japanese" isn't a problem in English-language fics; it can be awfully annoying in anime fic (at least when the Japanese is wrong...)

Then, my expectations for the series themselves will be different. Sometimes I'll be in the mood for English-language series, and sometimes more in the mood for something Japanese. Sometimes that's because I don't feel like reading subtitles/trying to translate, but it's often for other things. For instance, I like anime and American cartoons, but for somewhat different reasons. Shounen series tend to have certain themes and tropes I love (such as friendship and nakamaship and fighting for what you believe in) and I love superhero cartoons for a lot of the same stuff, but it's done differently. Anime tends to have more violence, brutalization of small children, etc; there's also certain character types I love, like fangboys and eternal rival characters, which are a staple in anime but less common in Western stuff. (Though superhero stories often have arch-nemeses...) And correspondingly there's some char types more common in Western series, like geeky supergeniuses.

Plus, some things are just easier in my native language - it's easier for me to quote funny lines when they're in English, so the vast majority of my favorite quotes come from English-language series...

(and obviously it's all right for you to reference me - you know how to contact me!)

[gnine.livejournal.com]

I'm giving this to you even though we've mostly talked about it cause I'm curious what you'd write:

So I know this is ridiculously after the fact (busy summer/additional research/the fact that I'm a horrible procrastinator and more all account for it) but if you have the time/inclination, I have a few follow-up/additional questions that would be a big help if you could answer:

In what ways (if any), for you personally, do your fannish practices change depending on the source culture of the material you're fanning on? (e.g. do you watch more music vids for anime, do you read/write particular kinds of fic for western shows, do you seek out cons for only certain types of fandoms, etc.) The more specific the examples, the better.

Semi-related to the above question, in what ways, if any, has your fannish practices changed over your time in fandom? (both in general over the years you've been in fandom and in specific fandoms. ) And have these changes at all coincided with differences in source culture? (eg for western fandoms, you've always just watched/read fic w/out much change over time but with Japanese fandom, you started watching anime then moved on to music vids then progressed to
helping scanlate manga because you went on to learn Japanese, etc.)

And one or two questions on one topic I might be exploring in a bit more detail, so:

Are you interested in/have any experience with/in slash/Boys Love/yaoi/ m/m etc.? If yes, do you notice a difference in how it is approached/explored depending on the source culture of the material? Examples/details appreciated.

Do you personally approach it differently/have different expectations for how it's depicted in fan works depending on the culture? If so, in what ways?

[water-soter.livejournal.com]

I was born in the US, grew up in Mexico and my father only let us watch tv in english but I've also watched mexican movies and tv, same with japanese tv and movies, some korean movies and french, irish, chinese, etc. I don't know if I'm what you're looking for but if so I'll do what I can to help.

[gnine.livejournal.com]

You're exactly what I'm looking for! ^_^ If you can take a look at the questions above and answer either here or at gnine AT livejournal DOT com, as many as you feel applicable/comfortable with, that'd be great! Thanks so much! ^_^

[calcitrix.livejournal.com]

Hi there! Here via xparrot.

I'm American and watch about 2/3 American-produced shows with the occasional British sit-com and mostly anime making up the rest.

Before I figured these things out, as a kid I thought most of what I watched originated in the good 'ol U.S., but then I learned that a lot of the shows I watched were just edited and dubbed Japanese cartoons or done by Japanese studios. I loved Robotech and Silverhawks, for example. First it was the art--WAY better than American-made cartoons--and then the type of stories that drew me in and seemed to be lacking at the time in other shows.

I got out of those when I got older and really only watched sci-fi on TV and the occasional anime movie, which I loved because they were like adult versions of the cartoons I'd watched when I was young. Then when anime hit the internet I got into it more--until recently it was just too difficult to find.

I watch a few anime shows now and prefer subtitles so that I hear the original voices and inflection (and have picked up on swear words and when they've changed/censored the dialogue). I was having a conversation with a 13 year-old camper the other day who watches a TON of anime but only ones that are English dubbed. She doesn't like subtitles as much, yet was way ahead of me on pronouncing the characters' names correctly and how the vowels and consonants should sound (though she hadn't picked up any vocabulary). I like the teamy adventure stuff; she is into the soap-opera type stories with complicated romances.

I wouldn't say that I particularly seek out ANYthing Japanese, because a lot of it can be really creepy or just bizarre. As for British stuff, I don't think of the origins of books much unless there's a lot of hoopla about it (like Harry Potter) so I can't say that I seek out that, either, though I do love a good Neil Gaiman. Though...I would say I do seek out Australian authors because finding them in a bookstore is rare so I'll tend to buy one when I see it if I notice it in the author blurb and not worry about the plot summary. Morris Gleitzman and John Marsden, notably!

I only run into a few references or jokes that I don't get (and picked up on a few running gags that are obviously very funny if you grew up with them). But then in the comments to one video, someone explained that a character looked happy at the end because a single cherry petal fell in his tea and that's a sign of good luck, and I realized I'm probably missing quite a few references like that.

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?
In anime I've noticed there are a lot of orphans with great destinies. Also that bad guys turn out to be good guys a lot. Way more than good guys turn out to be bad guys, which tends to happen in Western stories.

Fandom
I think about half the people I know in fandom are from the U.S. and about half are British, but I do know a few are from other European countries (non-English-speaking) and post in both English and their native language.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in? I think most of the anime fans I've seen online are from the U.S. but I don't know as many of them.

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture? Heck, yes. Both seem to be into slash but the anime crowd seems to be younger...I browse art at deviantArt as well, and there's definitely a growing crowd of beginners putting up a lot of fanart in the various animes I watch. Maybe because it's a cartoon to begin with, there seems to be much more in drawn fan work in anime and somewhat less in fanfiction and the reverse is true for Stargate and Sanctuary, Glee &etc.



Nationality: United States
Native language(s): English
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): English
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: Sure
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): Doesn't matter... Janet is fine
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? Sure...buffalogirl @gmail.com

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for this, you'll probably hear more from me in the next week or so as I go through all the data I'm getting. Again, thank you for the help!

[tristen84.livejournal.com]

- How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?

Little to none. Though for me there's a difference between fanning on books and fanning on tv-shows. My very first fandom was a book series for young adults. I got into it when I was 13 and at the time I read the books in my native language. A few years later, when I discovered the books had actually been translated from English, and there were many, many more books in the series that had never been translated into my native language, I started collecting and reading the books in English. That's when I discovered fandom (and fanfic!).

Now, English tv-shows are never dubbed in my country (with the exception of a number of cartoons/anime, unfortunately), always subbed, which is the way I watched them when I was younger.


- How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?

Nothing, pretty much. Although, wait. There was one book I ended up fanning on, but that lasted about a day since there wasn't actually a fandom for it.

- Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?

No, and I don't think it's likely to change in the future.

- If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)

Well, since I have a MA in English language and culture, I consider myself pretty fluent in the language now, even though it's not my native language. So I have no problem following the material as it was originally produced. But when I was younger I had to watch my favourite tv-shows with subtitles and had to keep a dictionary handy when reading English books.

- Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?

I guess I mostly gravitate towards English language materials (be it American, British, Australian, etc.), simply because I understand it well and because I have a great affinity for the language. I like to watch anime dubbed in English for the same reason.

- The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?

Mostly cultural references. Sometimes I still have problems with those.


Fandom Questions:

- At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?

No. I think the majority of people I fan with are either American or British.

- Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?

No, I don't think so.

- If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?

No, I've only been to one convention and it was in England, so I can't actually compare.

- Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?

See above.

- Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?

No...at least, not on my end.

- Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?

Well, I guess that if the source culture would be my own, my expectations for the fandom would be pretty low. But as I said before, I rarely, if ever, fan on something that's from my own culture.


Nationality: Dutch
Native language(s): Dutch
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): English
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: sure
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): Tristen
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.?
Sure: goldenslumbers1@hotmail.com

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for this, you'll probably hear more from me in the next week or so as I go through all the data I'm getting. Again, thank you for the help!

[tahariel.livejournal.com]

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?
Merlin is the only British show I’m fannish about. In fact, it’s the only British show I watch. The reason for this is that a lot of the British shows are either a) not in my genre or b) if I’m honest have such lower production values than the US shows I’m used to that they make me wince. This may not be patriotic but it’s true.
How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?
Almost all of it. I do watch some anime, or subtitled foreign films. I’d say 95%.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?
In high school anime was my fandom – no Western media. Then when I started watching Stargate SG-1 (as a result of my friend constantly talking about it) I fell in love with American sci-fi.
If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)
NEVER dubs! I would always watch it in subtitles or seek out scanlations. I’m not smart enough to learn to read a foreign language just for fandom.
Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?
I watch almost exclusively American TV shows. This is because the quality of production and writing is generally very good, and because of the variety.
The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?
Oh God, anime was a learning curve! Over time and exposure I started to learn the tropes and ideas behind a lot of the things I didn’t quite get, and started to pick up on a lot more. As well, their whole outlook on life and morality is subtly different to that of my own, which really influenced my thinking.
Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?

I’m only really conscious of Japanese tropes, but those would include magical girls, extremely pretty boys, fan clubs for individual high school people(!), extremely humorous moments suddenly turning into revelations of deep internal angst, giant robots...

[tahariel.livejournal.com]

Fandom Questions:
At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?

I know a lot of them are, but quite a lot of my fandom friends are foreign but live/have lived in the UK, or are from countries where English is their first language, like the US.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?
Very much so, because of the awareness needed of the original media. But as most of my shows are US shows, my fandom friends stay very stable, as most British fans watch a lot of US shows due to the dearth of UK genre.

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?
I used to attend anime cons, now I go to Western ones. Anime conventions, because we can’t get ‘guests’ in the way you can for a local, live-action show, tend to be more about watching shows on big screens and wandering around chatting to people. Western cons seem to be more about guests, and while I love that if that means discussion and panels and getting to really talk about a show, things like Collectormania – where it is all about the autographs – really bore me.

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?
No, sorry. I’m due to go to ComicCon in a week’s time though, I’ll report back!

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?
Not especially, though I have had to explain British words sometimes.

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?
I think there’s a very different feel to shows made in, say, the UK compared to the US. A lot of US shows are very serious with humour thrown in, and are very ‘glossy’, if you know what I mean – all the characters are gorgeous and well-groomed and live beautiful lives in lovely houses there’s no way they could afford. In UK shows things seem to be more realism-based on that front, with more... I’m not sure how to describe it, self-deprecation of the characters? More humour-based with seriousness thrown in.


Additionally, there are a few details that’d be helpful for everyone to include, if they could:

Nationality: English
Native language(s): English (UK)
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): English
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: Sure
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): Tahariel
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? Sure  Tahariel@luckymail.com

[katzb101.livejournal.com]

I'm just about to go out - but I'll come back to this later, though I suspect the answers are likely to be very boring. *g*

[katzb101.livejournal.com]

Media Questions:

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country? Country wise very little, there are some bands that I follow and a couple of tv shows but that's about it. Culturally most of it.

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)? Nearly all of it.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom? No, not really.

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.) Usually, if film or tv - with subtitles. But music or anime, manga, yaoi etc I'll attempt to follow without translations unless I get really, really stuck.

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why? No, not really - it might take me a little longer to get something that isn't in my native language - but usually I've followed on from something I'm a fan of anyway. Best example of that is moving from watching WWF as it was then, to watch both Mexican and Japanese pro-wrestling and finally on to following Sumo.

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ? Yes totally. Taking the above as an obvious example you go from something that's mostly ridiculed in the US and the UK, to something that has a lot of respect, to something that comes from traditions that aren't my own and as a result takes some learning and understanding.

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material? Not particularly, though with the US and to a point with UK material too in certain areas black and white/good and bad is more clearly defined or seems to be to my eyes than in certain areas of Japanese material for example. But then again I don't have the same references when watching Japanese film as I would watching American or UK film

Fandom Questions:

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality? No, but only so much as I'm English and most of the people I fan with regularly, on the internet certainly, are American.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in? Oh yes, very much.

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions? I do ie the meet ups etc. But I've not done fan events for media of different cultures.

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences? On one occasion I've been to a convention in the US, but it was very small and very specific and also sports based so I don't really think that counts.

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings? Oh yes. And ummm... I'll take the high road on anything else here *g*.

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture? No, not really. My expectations do change though depending on the size of the fandom/fan base and how main stream it is or isn't.

Additionally, there are a few details that’d be helpful for everyone to include, if they could:

Nationality: English
Native language(s): English
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): English
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: Yes, please do.
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): Caroline
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? Yes. But please note, I'm away from the 16th until the 30th and will be without internets.

[ariadne83]

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country? None. I watch some New Zealand shows but I'm not fannish about them.

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)? 100%

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom? No

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? I watch foreign-language media (mostly German or French, but some Japanese) with subtitles rather than dubs because for me the original voice acting has more raw emotion

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? Not really, but generally I prefer British humour to American.

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to? Yes, not that I can remember the first time specifically. But I've gotten more into Japanese/Japan-influenced media over the last year, and enforces my vague sense that each culture has their own set of tropes/stereotypes that take some effort to wrap my head around. And there are always colloquialisms/obscure cultural references that are particular to a country/region/whatever. And even the way characters interact physically is markedly different depending on the people it was produced by/for.

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material? Not really.

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality? No; I've only made the effort to seek out local fen in the last 12 months, and even then the community I've found is so small it's pretty rare for all of us to be in the same fandom.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in? No.

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? No; the meet-ups I do attend generally focus on English-language media

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences? Yes, in both Australia and New Zealand (and both visiting and hosting Aussies). The Australian fen I've met tend to be more vocal and up-front than New Zealanders, enough that it feels a little like a culture clash at times.

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings? Yes; there tend to be different expectations WRT communication, and sometimes it *feels* like people are being rude when I know that's not there intention.

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture? Yes. New Zealand media is fairly self-deprecating and (sometimes deliberately) low-rate/faux-improvisational, I tend to expect British media to be cynical/genre-mashing, and American media to be more... earnest and self-examining.

Nationality: New Zealand European
Native language: English
Language you most often fan in: English
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: Yes
If yes, how would you prefer to be called: ariadne83
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details? Yes (email is listed on my profile page)

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for this, you'll probably hear more from me in the next week or so as I go through all the data I'm getting. Again, thank you for the help!

[bagheera-san.livejournal.com]

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?
Most of it is from Western countries, none of it from my own.

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?
Nothing.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?
As a child (up to about 13/14 years) I of course had no choice but to watch/read in my native language, but even then the things I consumed were probably 70% translated. As a teenager (14-18 years) roughly 80% of my fandoms were Asian, the rest Western, and while I consumed most of these fandom sources in English (as dubs, subs or translations) I related to other fans in German. I started writing in English when I was about 17, and now (at 24) I fan exclusively in English.

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)
I prefer subs, because I enjoy the sound of these languages and I tend to dislike dubs.

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?
If anything, I avoid materials in my native language.

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?
All of these when it came to anime/manga. I actually learned a fair few Japanese words by osmosis. I never quite learned to appreciate Japanese humour, but did for a time quite enjoy their character depictions and narrative styles.
With English-speaking fandoms, this was most extreme in the case of Smallville, because that fandom strongly emphasizes American culture.
Another sort of culture clash: fanning a source that is not only not from your country, but not from your time (for example old comics, or Doctor Who from the Sixties/Seventies). Here of course you have to adjust to attitudes towards gender and race, and to the fact that since the Eighties, pop media has become increasingly dark/realistic/violent.

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?
Two character stereotypes I associate with anime/manga in particular: girls who are extremely kind, naive, polite, girlish and vulnerable. Often these girls are also portrayed as quiet and not very smart compared to their peers, there's an element of strong self-depreciation (I recognize some of these traits in Twilight's Bella). The opposite is the tough, rude, loudmouthed tom-boy.

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?
No.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?
Not very much.

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?
I haven't.

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?
Haven't.

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?
I don't recall any extreme cases, but it still surprises me each time an American (usually they're Americans) says things like "darling" or "sweetie" to me.

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?
I expect anime/manga fans to be younger, to embrace slightly different gender stereotypes, to produce higher quality visual fanworks, but lower quality written fanworks.

Nationality: German
Native language(s): German
Language(s) you most often fan in : English
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: yes
If yes, how would you prefer to be called: Bagheera / Nadja
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? yes

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for this, you'll probably hear more from me in the next week or so as I go through all the data I'm getting. Again, thank you for the help!

part the first

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

Media Questions:

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?

Nothing.

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?

Nothing.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?

No.

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)

Mostly subtitles and a few scanlations. I do have a handful of Japanese-language manga, but since I can barely spell my own name in hiragana, I'm left marvelling at the pretty while trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Since Japanese logic doesn't always fit my Western experiences, that can be somewhat tricky. Or, you know. Impossible. ;)

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?

No. If it sounds interesting, I'll check it out, though the way the media are structured here that means my source material is mostly North American, with some British, Japanese and Korean thrown in.

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?

When I first got into Anime, I understood little of the subtleties. Body language, shortcut references to well-known cultural phenomena, some of the character interaction – I had to access everything little by little. Manga were more helpful in that regard, as German translations often come with a little index that explains the more "outlandish" things, but way back when, the only manga available were Dragonball and Sailor Moon.

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?

I associate prank wars strongly with US-American and first-kiss-agonising with Japanese culture. The latter also gives me my beloved Valentine's-chocolate trope. I'm sure there's a lot more I just can't think of right now (so warm >.<).

part the second

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

Fandom Questions:

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?

Hahaha, no. of the 181 people I have friended, 19 are of the same nationality as me. Of those 19, maybe half are active in a fandom we share or at least used to share.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?

No. The Merlin fandom has a higher percentage British people than say, Stargate; alas, I'm not British.

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?

Hahaha, yes! I've been to a Stargate convention and one that concentrated more on science fiction in general with emphasis on Star Trek (though again I went for the Stargate part). I've also been to several Animanga conventions, and although the general setup was the same (merchandising, panels, autograph sessions, cosplay), the audience made all the difference. In short, the animanga fans were generally younger, more exuberant, more noticeably trying to copy the source culture, and vastly more colourful.

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?

Yes, I have, but no, I did not.

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?

Frequently. It's the vocabulary – the casual use of 'nazi' in whatever combination drives me up the wall, whereas I had no idea that there was anything offensive about fried chicken. Never mind that I'm still marvelling at the USA, land of air conditioning and bigger-is-better, not having embraced the continuous-flow water heaters as soon as they got on the market. ;)

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?

Hmm, yes and no. There is less subtlety in US-American material; sometimes I think North-American TV is mainly targeting stupid people. Sorry. British material, on the other hand, often employs a more biting humour you won't necessarily get the first time around. However, the quality of fanworks doesn't so much depend on the source culture, in my experience, as the average age of the target audience. I expect much higher quality and maturity from the Sherlock Holmes fandom than from BBC's Merlin. Both are British (if you ignore the Guy Ritchie movie for a moment), but the themes explored in their fanworks are very different. For example, the modern-day AU is very popular in Merlin fandom, but the Sherlock Holmes fen seem content with Victorian England.


Additionally:

Nationality: German
Native language(s): German
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): English
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: Yes
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): LJ handle is fine
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? Sure

[shayera.livejournal.com]

Nationality: Swedish.
Native language: Swedish (I learned English as a child, and Japanese as an adult).
Language I most often fan in: English.
Is it alright to reference me: Sure.
What would you like to be called: Real first name would do well.
Would it be alright to contact me: Of course!

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?
Nothing.

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?
Again, nothing.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?
No, though I've shifted from mostly American stuff to mostly Japanese stuff. I can't think of anything I've ever fanned on that was produced in Sweden, in Swedish.

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it?
I'm not really counting English-language stuff here, though it's true than when I was a very tiny little proto-fan, I did read books in Swedish translation, and see TV-shows with Swedish subtitles (that's how they were broadcast on national TV). But as soon as I knew enough English to realize that everything is better in the original language I stopped getting translated stuff altogether.

As for Japanese, I did read a lot of manga officially translated into English, and I watched subtitled anime. Once I had the kind of internet connection that would support it, I downloaded fansubs. And I played both officially released English-language Japanese RPG video games, and some fantranslations. All of it in English. But from the very beginning when I first discovered the Japanese stuff and started fanning on it, I was stubbornly determined to learn the language. I always wanted to be able to enjoy the original without middle hands, and a few years later, I got there.

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? If so, why?
I'm kind of curious about Korean manhwa, but I've decided to avoid it, simply because I wouldn't be able to stand translations again, and I don't want to have to learn another language.

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to?
There were some things I had to adjust to when I first started getting into Japanese stuff. Right now I can barely remember exactly how it felt, or exactly what I reacted on. I remember that it felt fresh and interesting. More alive, less artificial (since then I've noticed that the clichés are just different, but when I first saw it, lacking the clichés I was used to, it really felt alive). There were different character types and different moral values than I was used to. I didn't have any negative reactions to it, but I do remember doing a double-take once in a while.

And, of course, the cultural references. But that's not just with the Japanese stuff, it goes for anything American or British as well. I think the in-jokes are actually the hardest part to adjust to - but it also means you get to learn new things.

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?
There's always the negative tropes... For example, the lonely hero and the annoying patriotism of American stuff, and the somewhat useless big-breasted mini-skirted women in Japanese works. But those are just stereotypes, and doesn't really say anything. It's hard to say something in general that encompasses for example all kinds of manga AND anime AND video games. But as for a trope I like, the focus on "nakamaship" is what's drawing me to shounen manga.

[shayera.livejournal.com]

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?
No. Some are, and sometimes I discover after knowing a person for a while that they're a Swede. Swedes seem to be a bit overrepresented on the internet considering our small population. But for the most part, no.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?
No, not really. The respective proportion of people from different countries might change (for examples, I know several people from the Philippines in the One Piece fandom, and I wouldn't have expected that in, say, SGA fandom. But I might be wrong), but the proportion of Swedes doesn't change much.

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?
The only fan events I've ever been to have been in Japan - several doujinshi events of different sizes as well as Jump Festa and one other seiyuu event. Needless to say, those where mainly for Japanese fandoms, although big doujinshi events like Comiket do have doujinshi for Western stuff as well.

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?
Again, the only fan events I've ever been to have been in Japan. There are practically no fan events in Sweden, and I've never been to one in an English-speaking country. From what I hear, Western events (even in anime fandom) are very different from Japanese events, but I don't have the experience to make comparisons.

In any case, going to a Japanese event is an experience - not the least because you stand out a lot. But I've never met with any negativity. The Japanese fans are usually happy to meet foreign fangirls.

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?
There has been a couple of occasions when a person's English has been so bad that I had to think twice before realizing what they meant. Usually on LJ fandom, I'm really happy to have come to know people from all sorts of nationalities all over the world. Getting to know people from a country you don't know a lot about widens your world in a way. I love how the internet brings people together.

When it comes to fanning on Japanese stuff, there are often misunderstandings about, because few people understand the original language, and the available translations can be differing and sometimes wrong. But that has more to do with the source material than fans from different countries.

As for Japanese fandom in Japan, though, it's a bit more difficult. Even their internet fandom culture is different than what we do on LJ. And there is practically no overlap, since English fandom and Japanese fandom in general don't speak each other's languages. Also, although many are nice and squeeful when you meet them at events, as a Westerner it's hard to approach Japanese fandom even if you do speak the language.

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?
I have to say no, but only because I tend to not dive too deep into fandom. I tend to stay on my LJ and my F-list, and not go to the forums and communities where fans gather. I've heard that there are general differences between anime/Western fandoms, but I have a low tolerance for wank, so I'd rather avoid it altogether and focus on the squee with a limited number of people.

[kouriarashi.livejournal.com]

Hiya, long time no talk! Figured I would drop in and answer your survey. ^_^

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?

I'd say it's about half and half. And it's very skewed depending on what type of media. For TV, I hardly watch *any* American shows at all, there's really just one or two that I follow, but I watch a lot of anime and a fair amount of British TV. Plus I read lots of manga, but no American comic books/graphic novels at all. For movies and books, however, it's heavily skewed towards American stuff; I may occasionally watch a foreign film but that's fairly rare.

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?

Again, about half and half, with the same skew as above.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?

Yeah, definitely. When I was first introduced to anime, I only watched a little, but over time I've started to watch more and more. I was never a big fan of American TV, though. Also, I didn't read manga for my first several years in fandom, only watching anime, but gradually got into it and now I probably read just as much manga as I watch anime.

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)

For anime, fansubs when available, official subs when not. There are a few decent dubs out there - Trigun leaps to mind - but they're the exception rather than the rule, so I prefer to avoid them when at all possible. I would get more in the way of official subs if buying anime wasn't so prohibitively expensive. For manga, I actually prefer to buy the official volumes released in America - greater image quality and consistency of translations, plus I prefer reading an actual book to reading on my computer - but since there's such a great delay in release time I'll typically read scanlations online while I wait for the volumes to come out.

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?

Well, I tend to avoid Japanese porn, because it's scary. Heh. But I can't think of anything else I particularly avoid. I don't really seek out stuff, either, I tend to watch/read stuff on recommendation from others.

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?

The first anime I ever watched was Fushigi Yuugi and I thought it was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. It grew on me, but it was the character designs that first threw me for a loop. That still happens sometimes when I pick up a new series with a unique style - One Piece's art took a while to adjust to, for example - but for the most part I'm used to it now. I'm aware that there are probably some cultural references/language jokes that go over my head, but most of the time I don't worry about that.

I got into anime a long time ago, but the one thing I do remember finding confusing was all the honorifics and the different versions of "I" and "you" which of course heavily flavor dialogue and can tell you a lot about a character's personality. I still, to this day, *hate* it when a fansubber omits or changes the honorifics to "mister" or whatever. Just leave them in! We know what they mean!

[kouriarashi.livejournal.com]

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?

Shonen anime/manga is one of the most predictable things I have ever read. 1) They fight a guy. 2) They level up. 3) A stronger guy comes along. 4) He kicks their asses. 5) Commence training sequence. 6) They fight the guy again. 7) They level up and kick his ass. Wash, rinse, repeat. Some series I don't mind it in - One Piece has endless creativity of villains - and some are more subtle about it - FMA was shonen and it sort of had that flavor, but it was much more mellow - but in some it bores the hell out of me, like Bleach.

Plus anime/manga has a strong tendency to have weak female characters, which drives me bonkers and is why I really like it when a strong female comes along in manga. Of course, with the Twilight craze going full force here, I expect most American female characters to be pathetic for a while, too.

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?

I'd say probably about three quarters, maybe even less. But I don't ask a lot of them about it, heh.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?

Absolutely. When it comes to manga/anime, I'm a foreigner to begin with and I think a lot of other people fanning it are as well, or are from Japan where it originated. But the American stuff I like - the Dresden Files (books, not TV), Chuck (TV), et cetera, I think most of the fans are American.

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?

I've only gone to anime cons, so I really don't know, but every con is very unique (I've been to Otakon, Anime Boston, YaoiCon, and one small con in New Hampshire and Arizona, both of which are now defunct, I believe), so it wouldn't surprise me at all. A loooooooong time ago I went to Arisia, a sci-fi con in Boston, and it had a *very* different flavor to it, but that was so long ago that it's hard for me to pin down what the difference was.

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?

Nope, just America.

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?

I honestly don't think so. I mean, sure, I've had surprise/confusion/etc with other fans, but I think that's just because we're all people and sometimes communication is hard over the internet. I don't think it was a cultural thing.

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?

This is hard to answer because I don't really get into American fandoms. I'm sure there *is* a Chuck fandom or one for the Dresden Files, but I've never sought it out. Karasu is into the How to Train your Dragon fandom right now, and she says that it's much more cheerful, open, and inclusive than some of the other fandoms she associates with, but that may just be because of the source material. She's been in Supernatural and Dark Angel fandoms as well and never mentioned the change until HTTYD. (Objection! Hearsay! Sustained!)

Nationality: American
Native language(s): English
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): Source material is Japanese, but my own fannings are in English.
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: Sure, though I can't imagine anything I said was that scintillating.
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): Kouri is fine.
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? Sure again. ^^

Hope this helped!

Hope to help a little. Also have pimped.

[loki-dip.livejournal.com]

Media Questions:

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?

About 30% Roughly.

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?
100%.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?
Umm... I think there's more English in it now. So increased in my country's output.

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)
With great difficulty. Mainly dubs.

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?
I try and support British culture because I like my country to produce quality (at times!) materials. Everywhere else I don't judge it by where it's from, though my linguistic ability is terrible so it needs to be available in English somewhere.

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?
Not particularly. There's such a wide range even within a single country's output.

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?
Mostly the stereotypes of other cultures. Eg. Americans (in British films) are loud and uncouth, in American culture Brits tend to be uptight and drink a lot of tea.

Fandom Questions:

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?
Predominantly yes.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?
I fan with the same group of people regardless so no!

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?
Nope.

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?
Attended a meetup in the States, no difference. Ask me again in November when I've helped at an event in Denmark!

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?
No more than any normal conversation would!

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?
Nope.

Additionally, there are a few details that’d be helpful for everyone to include, if they could:

Nationality: English
Native language(s): English
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): English
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: Of course!
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): LJ name, nickname, anon is fine. Would prefer not to have my real name.
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? No. You clearly may never contact me again! :)

Re: Hope to help a little. Also have pimped.

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the linkage! Big help! *huggles* You'll probably hear more from me in the next week or so as I go through all the data I'm getting. Again, thank you for the help!

[pomkeygeekange.livejournal.com]

I discovered this via a post on krazykipper's journal.
Media Questions:

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?

If you class my own country as the uk in general then half. If not then about 25%. I am in England and A quarter of my active fandoms are made in wales, a quarter was very much English and the other half are from across the pond as it is.

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?

All of it. Apart from the odd alien word here and there.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom? Yes. I used to be in fandoms that were exclusively American.

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)

If I was ever in that situation it would either be dubbed or translated, however I have not gained interest in a fandom yet were this has been needed.

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why? Not to date there is not.

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?

I am not sure this is relevant but to give an example as it is the best way I can describe this, when I first encounter the MASH fandom I had to adjust to historical and cultural references. Such as I did not know a lot about what war MASH was based on or about Korean culture. That did require an adjustment as in actively having to research things for me to understand jokes made or phrases used.

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?

Their probably is but I have not made the connection as of yet.


Fandom Questions:

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality? Online no, in person yes. However I have limited opportunities to be actively fannish in a face to face situation.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?

Actually no but it may change with which website I use, for example in the past BBc message boards by the very nature tend to have UK based fans but sites like Live journal are much more global.

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?

I have not been to this type of convention so am unable to answer this.

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?

I have only attended conventions in England.

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?

N/A

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?

Yes. I find that it also depends on the source itself though, a show like torchwood is naturally going to produce more graphic pieces both in terms of Gore and description of sex than a family show such as whose the boss? However I also notice changes of language used to.


Additionally, there are a few details that’d be helpful for everyone to include, if they could:

Nationality: I class myself as English
Native language(s): English
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): English (again)
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper:
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): Off course, feel free to use whatever way is most sutable.
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? yes, I would be happy to be contacted via lj mail.

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for this, you'll probably hear more from me in the next week or so as I go through all the data I'm getting. Again, thank you for the help!

[crashtestskater.livejournal.com]

I'm working on my answers for you. But I have to go to work now. Hopfully I'll have this done tonight for you.

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Whenever you get the chance is fine ^__^ *huggles*

Hi there! Linked here via friendsfriends

[rhythmia.livejournal.com]

and academic studies of fandom always intrigue this particular geek. :D I would be interested in reading the results were you ever to share that. :D

Media Questions:

-How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?

A small percentage. I'm from the U.S., and in the past I have had fandoms that were produced for the U.S./North American market (like Stargate:Atlantis or Star Trek franchise), but currently just about 99.9% of what I'm into is Asian.

-How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?

Currently, technically, none of it. I speak English and Cantonese, and learned Mandarin (fluent but not natively) so even if I watch Chinese shows, I'm not entirely sure that counts? At the moment everything I fan is in Japanese, Korean or Chinese. I live off of English and Chinese subtitles, hehe. However, the fandom-produced material (i.e. fanfiction, picspams, etc.) that I consume are all in English.

-Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?

Yes. I started out being in anime fandoms, so I had a mix of dubbed and subbed material and interacted with English-language fandom. Spent some time in Harry Potter and then U.S. media fandoms for a brief period, again English-language fandom, and now that I'm jpop and kpop fandom and dramas, I'm once more in Japanese and Korean canon, English-language fandom.

-If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)

Manga is going to be scanlations, dramas I will wait for subtitles because plot depends on understanding what's going on! Variety shows I will occasionally muddle through the raws because if the focus is more physical humor that translates all right, and I have just enough basic Japanese to guess what's happening

-Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?

I'm definitely drawn to Japanese and now Korean culture. The main draws are anime, manga and dramas. I've found that for me, the story lines and arcs are more compelling because it's easier to find ones that I enjoy, where character development happens, many stories are slice-of-life, there is emotional depth and stories go into personal interactions, there are fun family and friendship stories and growing up stories, and romance. I find characters I can relate to and situations that are entertaining, funny or sympathetic.

Also I think because there is a bit of cultural distance, there are different issues that bug me versus the issues that tend to bug me over and over when I used to try to watch U.S./North American tv, so it's fresh, I suppose. I keep getting thrown out of US/NA tv over race/gender/class/etc fail, it harshes my buzz so I can't enjoy as much. J- and k-drama have their own issues, but one of my favorite things is that there are so many unabashedly awesome female characters. They come in so many personalities and character types. I could go on if you asked. :P

-The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?

*laughs* Man, my first foray into manga was definitely an experience! It always makes me so happy when translators and subbers put cultural notes in. And it's interesting to me how complex the conventions and visual shorthand involved in manga can be, how a couple symbols can represent an emotion or state of mind or an action, and how I'm so used to it now that it actually threw me for a loop when I tried to get one of my friends to read manga and she was having trouble with pacing, with reading panels right to left and figuring out the proper direction to read in, figuring out the convention of deforming a character meant a humorous interlude, etc.

I'm terribly sorry, this is going to be long. >.> 2/?

[rhythmia.livejournal.com]

-Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?

Getting into Korean dramas I had some interesting adjustment issues. Mostly it was the romance thing in romcoms, where it seemed that if a woman was the lead, there was usually a guy to match her, and a Secondary Guy, and a Secondary Girl to get in the way and I couldn't figure out why Secondary Girl was often made out to be such a psycho.

I always associate the accidental fall-on-top-of-each-other-kiss as an East Asian thing, because I've seen it in j-, k- Chinese and Taiwan-dramas. And if a drama or anime/manga includes an appearance of a foreign (esp. white or black) character I always get ready to duck because the treatment is usually wince-worthy, though it's slightly understandable because those cultures are relatively homogeneous.

I notice US/NA stuff tends to go in for the buddy cop trope. Can't say much more because I've been out of those fandom circles for a long time. >.>

Fandom Questions:

-At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?

Currently, definitely not. I'm from the U.S., and in my jpop and kpop fandom, the appeal is definitely worldwide. I've got friends in Germany, Canada, Singapore, Japan, I think Brazil, China, Korea, Philippines, Australia, alllll over. But it's so strange, because I'll go on some LJ comms, and because a lot of LJ are from the US, and there'll be discussions and the US kids will post with the assumption that US culture is the base culture to be comparing Japanese culture with. I don't see it that often, but it throws me for such a loop sometimes because most of the rest of the fandom I hang out with is so international.

-Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?

Oh definitely! Part of it is access, and I suppose part of it is appeal, like what kind of stories and characters and elements of 'canon' draw people in. When I was in Stargate: Atlantis fandom I think everybody I knew or knew of in it was from the U.S. But I find that with the dramas and anime, several of them have been rebroadcasted in other parts of Asia either dubbed or subbed or even remade with local cast, so there's a lot of cultural cross-pollination going on.

With the J- and k-pop, that's idols and other entertainers, and Asian entertainer do a lot of crazy stuff and variety shows and are just everywhere, compared to the celebrities/musicians/etc that I know of in the US. So I would guess with greater exposure and material for fans to get into, that's also a draw.

I don't go to conventions, so skipping those questions~

-Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?

Mmm, I've observed but not been involved in things. Since my current fandom has such an international make-up, but the medium of fannish communication is largely in English, I've periodically seen wank involving language use and fluency, some people demanding better usage and other people going, "lighten up, English is not a lot of people's first language". Toss in the usual fangirl-Japanese thing.

It's interesting to me to see so many people start a conversation in English, and shift back and forth with another one in the middle.

Also I think anime, jpop and kpop fandom is on average a younger fandom, probably as young as 13 or 14, though it skews because I've conversed with fans into their 60s, and I'm 26 myself. Most of my friends are college-age and into working years, I'd say late teens into mid 30s. Though because the average is lower, that does mean the conversation level and social skills ability in the comms is still maturing. ^^;;

When I was in Harry Potter fandom, the age range was also pretty wide, but the section of fandom I was in was heavily skewed towards early to mid 20s, mostly college students. Same for Stargate: Atlantis and Lord of the Rings.

Got here via friendslist and promply started being tl;dr (Part 1)

[kegom.livejournal.com]

If it's OK with you, I'll just go through the questions one by one and try to answer them like that. ^-^


NOTE: Since you’ve got a lot of questions about culture, I thought it best to define my own definition of culture up here, so you can interpret my answers in context. ^-^
Basically, my understanding of “culture” follows the definition by Dirk Lange, who says that:
“Culture is a system of relevance and meaning which is communicated by larger groups of people. Thus, culture is a collective phenomenon. It can not be identified as a homogeneous attribute of certain national, religious, ethnic and cultural groups, however. Cultural identity is defined by the individual and thus isn’t static, but subject to constant changes or affirmation.”
(Dirk Lange, “Social Studies in an Intercultural Perspective”, 2004)

This means that when I use “culture” and “country” interchangeably, I’m aware that they’re not the same, but use them this way because I either speak about my own experiences as a member of one of my country’s “mainstream cultures”, which traditionally has close ties between country and culture, or I speak about another country’s media culture, which is strongly influenced by its geographic location / country’s history, etc. and which I feel has close enough ties between culture and country to justify the mix-up.
I also, in a few, instances, use “mainstream” [insert other country] culture. I know this is a bit dangerous, because I’m not actually part of that culture. I try to do it only when I genuinely think that it’s part of a “mainstream” in that country, because I’ve read/heard other people refer to it as “mainstream”.


Anyway, onto the questionnaire!

Media Questions:

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?

At the moment, nothing I actively fan (instead of just passively admire, like poetry) is produced by my own country (which is Germany, for your study’s records), and nothing is produced by the main culture in my country. About 1/5, however, is produced by the British culture, which I feel I belong to just a little bit, because I’ve lived in the Midlands and I have family there. (Plus, the part of Germany I live in has a culture very similar to the British one.)

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?

Absolutely nothing, as far as I know.


Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?

No, not really. I discovered fandom (and especially online fandom) very late, so I never got into the organized fandoms of the books I used to love as a child/young teenager that were originally written by authors from my country. As an online fan, I started out in anime/manga fandom, then went on to rediscover my love for American/Canadian nineties TV shows and then fell into love with parts of the J-pop scene, none of which originates in my country or culture.

Part 2 (which took a while, because my internet is strange)

[kegom.livejournal.com]

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)

I either get the dubs, if it’s “official” material and I don’t have the choice, or the subs/scanlations, which I much prefer. I have tried watching Japanese things without subs on occasion, but I really didn’t enjoy it. The only exception to this is the anime “El Hazard” and the British arts&crafts show for kids I used to watch on the Turkish broadcasting station in Germany (which was dubbed in Turkish, obviously), when I was a child.


Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?

There aren’t many cultures I actively avoid or try to seek out. When there are things from a certain culture that I enjoy (like anime/manga, or British humour, or largely American-influenced fantasy/science fiction novels), I tend to look for other stuff I might enjoy in that culture, of course (i.e. finding one anime and looking for other anime with similar themes), but this hasn’t got much to do with the culture itself and more with the fact that, when I hear about something, usually it’s a rather well-established thing in its culture already (like the “yaoi” culture), which means that looking in that specific culture, I’m far more likely to find something else to enjoy, than anywhere else.
The only cultures that I actively avoid are those that deal with pain and humiliation, like the S/M and bondage culture, or certain war-glorification cultures.

It gets a little bit more complicated when the question pertains to a certain country’s material, because obviously, some of the cultures I like couldn’t have developed in any country but the one they come from (like the Otaku culture, for example, or the Gyaaru culture), which means that in the end I am actively seeking out this country’s material; but I wouldn’t seek out something because it’s “from Japan” or from any one country, so I don’t think this really counts either.


The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?

Yes, definitely! Since most of the movies shown in Germany are either Hollywood movies or German movies that closely follow Hollywood narration, it was quite a cultural shock for me when I first watched a Japanese movie and realized that the whole “DRAMATIC CLIMAX RIGHT BEFORE END” thing was not the only way to make a movie that, in fact, a movie could completely lack any kind of big dramatic moments and still be a very good movie.

A lot of anime has cultural connotations, as well, which can’t be understood without a deeper knowledge of the Japanese (mainstream) culture. This is something especially noticeable in fansubs, but also in some of the officially printed manga in Germany, which both have little footnotes in the margins (or at the top of the screens), explaining certain cultural references that the viewer/reader wouldn’t understand otherwise.

The first times I came across a Japanese game / variety show, I had a very hard time adjusting to the sense of humour in it. To be quite honest, this hasn’t changed completely: I still don’t quite understand Japanese humour, not the way other people do.

[zoeiona.livejournal.com]

Nationality: British
Native language(s): English
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): English
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: Yep
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): "Zoe" is fine
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? Yep - I can PM you my email address if needed


Just a quick note before I start: I'm not feeling too fannish at the moment. By this I mean I still watch TV sometimes; I still play games; I still read books (more than in a couple of years, in fact) and try to read some fanfic. But every speck of spare mental energy I have right now is going into the book I'm writing, and it's not leaving me any time to be truly immersed in any fandom at all. So when I speak about fanning on things, I'm not doing so with the all-encompassing love that I would if I had "time" to do it; I hope I'm still fannish enough for the study...

[zoeiona.livejournal.com]

Media Questions

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country? At the moment; less than half, unless you count carefully not RPSing the EPL, in which case a little more than half.

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)? About 80% of it at the moment, the rest being JRPGs and the odd bit of anime.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom? Yes, on both counts; I used to watch more anime and play even more JRPGs than I currently do, and my English-to-American book and show ratio has swung around a lot over the years.

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.) Dubbed/translated games; translated manga; subbed anime.

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why? I gravitate to JRPGs. For a games fan, there's this whole debate about whether they're actually RPGs, i.e. role-playing games; they don't offer the same option to decide what to do to advance events as WRPGs (computer or tabletop); they're only role-playing in that they're interactive stories in which the gamer walks the characters through events. Thing is, they're often quite fun interactive stories; western studios' work on WRPGs too often leaves the storytelling part unpixellated due to the attachment to letting the gamer choose the path through the story. So I particularly seek out Japanese games.

Other than that; I prefer UK shows to US ones, probably because I grew up with the UK storytelling and social conventions, but I don't really avoid US ones. Books; there's a lot of exciting new SF/F coming through in Britain at the moment, more so than from US writers, but I'm not ignoring US writers, and one of my biggest fandoms at the moment is by a US author.

My "embarrassing fandom gap" is "everything originally produced outside the UK, the US and Japan". :/ Really need to broaden horizons sometime.

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ? Well...
* People seem to die more often in anime than in Western animation.
* The manga style of art and using different drawing styles to portray the same character in different circumstances.
* Is it just the few I've read, or do manga series have more dramatic peaks in different places when compared to Western comic series?
* When watching anime I'm aware there's a whole subset of references I'm completely missing due to inadequate knowledge of Japanese culture. I can tell they're there but haven't a clue what they are.
* American spelling's a big one.
* So are American notions (and changing notions, at that) of society, femininity, race, religion etc. Almost what I naturally "expect", but not quite.

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material? Buddy-cops feel American; subordinate/superior cops feel British. Shows that tie each episode neatly up at the end feel American; ones that don't feel British. Mecha and tentacles feel (very) Japanese... and there seems to be a whole sub-coding to anime femininity that I don't yet get so couldn't begin to describe.


More later...

fanfic forum

[beautifuljoe.livejournal.com]

at Readercon this weekend went to a fanfic panel -- fabulous! Four were writers -- in both fanfic and traditional publishing formats so that they could legitimately comment and one was an academic and great fanfic reader. Her name is Erin Kissane -- might hunt her up on this topic. Also a panel on writing from other languages and one from other cultures. diane could give you background -- I'm being nuts trying to put together and service for the Gulf Oil spill.

Re: fanfic forum

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds fun! And interesting! Good luck with your service! *huggles*

[(Anonymous)]

Media Questions:

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?
None at all, I think

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?
About 20%? Not too sure.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?

Somewhat. I used to be a huge consumer of tvb (hong kong) drama series, particularly wuxia series and they are originally produced in Cantonese which is my mother tongue. Since 2000, my consumption of them has decreased a lot. I don't even watch tvb series anymore because I prefer veteran actors over the new actors. Now, 90% of what I fan over are from Japan while the remaining 10%, US and UK.

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)

Scanlations and subs mostly.

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?

I avoid Korean and Taiwan dramas. I usually get really annoyed at the characters. I seek out Japanese animation/manga because I like them. Sorry this response is not very helpful.

The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.)?

I guess more cultural references than anything. Can’t think of any off the top of my head.


Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?

Yeah. Sentai and magical girls I will always associate with Japan. Evil sects are not evil and good sects are actually kind of terrible, and EPIC BROMANCE of “we will mix a drop of our blood in a bowl of water and drink to be brothers forever” I will always associate with wuxia. The main charac will always save the day in the nick of the time, I will always associate with American stuff… just to name a few.

Fandom Questions:

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?

Yeah.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?

No, not really. I’m not a very social person.

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?

Only ever been to anime conventions so this question doesn’t apply.

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?

Nope.

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?

Sometimes. I used to be more social than this, so I did have some fan friends from other countries. As I grew up watching Japanese animation/reading Japanese manga, it never occurred to me that Japanese humour/narrative style is something people sometimes have to get used to. I like open-ended endings but some find it really hard to accept. Also, kickass ladies who can defend themselves/do awesome things was not new to me due to exposure to wuxia (where female characs are usually fighters themselves or awesome in other ways. PERHAPS I AM BIASED BUT I’D SO LOVE TO BE YAN SOU SOU FROM DRAGON SABRE HEAVEN SWORD. ) so hearing about how rare strong females are in tv series had been an eye opener for me.
Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?

A little. For example, I expect at least ONE tentacle-sex fic/art from Japanese animation/manga but not so much from other cultures unless it is populated by people who also fan over Japanese animation/manga.

Additionally, there are a few details that’d be helpful for everyone to include, if they could:

[(Anonymous)]

Nationality: Malaysian
Native language(s): Cantonese
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): English
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: Yes
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): anonymously
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? Yes. You ask me here. I will check back in three days.

Link aid

[moritheil.livejournal.com]

I'd be happy to give you a shout-out on Twitter. I've got about 800 followers, most of them due to my writing on Anime Diet.

Best of luck with your research!

Re: Link aid

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the offer...currently I'm sorting data/going over stuff with my professor, not sure how much more data I need right now...could I get back to you in a few days?

[anime-miz.livejournal.com]

Media Questions:

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?
About 20-30% I do watch some American shows rather on time when it is the correct season. But even then I jump across various ethnic media.. so quite hard for me to give you estimate or percentage.

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?
Only about 20-30-40% give or take.. my reasoning behind this percentage is similar to my first response.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?
Depends on what I can find.. and the numbers can go up and down.

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)
Muddling through raws... I refuse to wait.

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?
I love Japanese mostly anything, and usually avoid American dubbing... unless if it was a video game ie. Kingdom Hearts. Sometimes I watch Chinese movies/dramas....because I rather play a game I understand the language for. I rather avoid American dubbing, because I believe it underwrites the originality of the original anime, which is based on the manga. I usually also seek out English translated graphic novels, since I can't really read Japanese. Same scenario with Chinese books.


The first time you watched/read/listened to something produced by a culture whose material you had not previously fanned on, were there details you had to adjust to (e.g. narrative styles, character depictions, pacing, cultural references, etc.) ?
Narrative styles when it comes to Japanese books.. and Pacing when it comes to Japanese movies, go figure.

Are there any particular tropes/stereotypes/character traits/plot devices you particularly associate with a certain culture’s material?
Probably when I look at intense samurai honor.. it would bring to my mind the Japanese historical aspects.

Fandom Questions:

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?
Probably.. depends on the fandom... I wouldn't know - since many people in my fandom are online crowds.

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?
Depends..

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?
Yes, in U.S. cons, it is a lot more disorganized while when I was in Japan attending TAF, I saw so many lines, more orderly.

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?
Nope

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?
Yes and no.. but not really.

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?
Yes.

Additionally, there are a few details that’d be helpful for everyone to include, if they could:

Nationality: U.S.
Native language(s): Chinese, English
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): Japanese, Chinese, English
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: Sure
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): animemiz
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? Probably..

[gnine.livejournal.com]

So I know this is ridiculously after the fact (busy summer/additional research/the fact that I'm a horrible procrastinator and more all account for it) but if you have the time/inclination, I have a few follow-up/additional questions that would be a big help if you could answer:

In what ways (if any), for you personally, do your fannish practices change depending on the source culture of the material you're fanning on? (e.g. do you watch more music vids for anime, do you read/write particular kinds of fic for western shows, do you seek out cons for only certain types of fandoms, etc.) The more specific the examples, the better.

Semi-related to the above question, in what ways, if any, has your fannish practices changed over your time in fandom? (both in general over the years you've been in fandom and in specific fandoms. ) And have these changes at all coincided with differences in source culture? (eg for western fandoms, you've always just watched/read fic w/out much change over time but with Japanese fandom, you started watching anime then moved on to music vids then progressed to
helping scanlate manga because you went on to learn Japanese, etc.)

And one or two questions on one topic I might be exploring in a bit more detail, so:

Are you interested in/have any experience with/in slash/Boys Love/yaoi/ m/m etc.? If yes, do you notice a difference in how it is approached/explored depending on the source culture of the material? Examples/details appreciated.

Do you personally approach it differently/have different expectations for how it's depicted in fan works depending on the culture? If so, in what ways?

Oh, also, if I don't already know it (ie know you in person) and you're comfortable sharing it, what gender do you identify yourself as?

Again, thanks for your time, any details you have already or can additionally provide are a big big help! ^_____^

Latest reply EVER, gomen!

[naye]

So, hi.

You know me, but here's my info to start off with, for the record:

Nationality: Swedish & Swiss
Native language(s): Swedish, French & English (as in, I learned them all in childhood and speak them all fluently)
Language(s) you most often fan in (e.g. write/read/discuss in): English
Gender (that you're most comfortable identify yourself as): Female
Is it all right for me to reference you directly in the final paper: Go ahead!
If yes, how would you prefer to be called (e.g. LJ handle/name/nickname/anonymously, etc): LJ handle (unless RL would add something of value to you, then go ahead and use that!)
If needed, would it be alright for me to contact you for more questions/details via email/skype, etc.? ♥

---

How much of what you fan on is produced by your own culture/country?
The country I grew up in? About 0%. If we go back to 1987, there was one children's program I loved, loved, loved. But I was 7 back then, so it wasn't exactly fanning. And since then? Yeah, nothing.

How much of what you fan on is originally produced in your native language(s)?
If you accept English as one of my native languages (though it's not a language native to either of the countries I hold passports to), then I'll just say 50%, because it's really hard to quantify, and I feel like I fan half on Western, half on Japanese stuff.

Have either of the above changed over the course of your time in fandom?
How to map this out without essaying...
Okay, so I had my very first fanning phases on dubbed anime (which I didn't know were not native to my culture) and books originally written in English and then translated to Swedish.

Second fanning phase was almost exclusively on things produced in the US and UK.

Third fanning phase was a return to anime and manga, though this time around I knew that they were produced in Japan - and this sparked an interest in the language and culture.

Then I fanned some more on Western stuff, and now I'm back to fanning Japanese things (which I read and watch in the original Japanese, while living in Japan and going to Japanese fandom events).

If/When consuming material not originally produced in a language you are fluent in, how do you access it? (e.g., dubs, scanlations, muddle through the raws and just enjoy the pretty people/art/voices, etc.)

It's been a progress of dubs (when I was aged 5-13), subs and translations/scanlations when I first had no understanding of the language, and then gained some paltry language skills (19-24), and then I upped my fluency and now I'm at the point where I will always seek out raws first, before reading translations, because I want to experience things as close to the way as the original author intended them to be.

I'm not elitist in a this is the ONLY TRUE WAY of doing it! kind of sense, but for me, reading someone else's translation leaves me one step removed from the source, and that in turn takes away some of my enjoyment.

This might tie in with hating spoilers, and hardly ever rewatching or rereading anything - my first experience with a new chapter/episode is kind of like an emotional high, and if if I have this experience out of sequence (being spoiled for something that will happen in it before it's happened/reading panels or pages out of order) or filtered through someone else's words that is like a dampening layer between my emotions and the texts I pursue in search of those emotions.

Part 2 of the massive REPLY OF DOOM

[naye]

Are there any culture’s materials you particularly avoid or seek out? (e.g. you avoid anything Japanese, be it anime, manga, video games, etc.; you love anything British, TV, books, etc.)If so, why?

I avoid Swedish stuff. Like I said, there was the one children's program (I remember it as cool SF about a dystopia where laughter and fantasy were basically outlawed, and rebels fighting to overthrow that oppressive rule), but since then? Um... I tend to find Swedish-language movies pretentious and boring, and what's produced for domestic TV feels like it's all so slice-of-life that I have no interest for it. I'm aware that this is more of a prejudice than a fact, but I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything avoiding Swedish TV/movies. See - I want something beyond the ordinary in my fiction! Mystery or magic or at least some action, and I cannot for the life of me think of any Swedish show that's offered me that.

The one exception is Swedish books - I do read Swedish books, and I love them, too. But the books I seek out are - not surprisingly! - the ones that contain the aforementioned extraordinary elements.

What I seek out: well, either you'll have see it as seeking out things in "my" culture when I fan on anything Western (since I am all kind of mixed, but at least solidly Western), or you'll have to go for the fact that I seek out US/UK stuff and mark that down as another culture. I don't even know myself - I think of it as "mine" in that I understand pretty much everything (including cultural/historical references), and it feels familiar... at the same time, there are nuances you have to have grown up with to fully grasp, I think.

For example, the US High School experience is one of those things that show up everywhere in fiction, but that is totally alien to me - our school systems are just that different... So as an abstract, I understand it - I know more or less how the system works, in theory, and I am familiar with many high school narratives. On the other hand, I can't compare any of the HS scenarios I see on TV with my own experience.

I also do differentiate between US and UK stuff, where I see the US as producing quantity, and the UK as producing quality. (There's another essay here, don't you know!)

Lastly - and this should already be obvious in my previous answers - I seek out Japanese texts. Because my love for anime literally goes back almost as far as I can remember (age 5 or 6). And now I've made Japan my home, and I'm doing my best to master the language, and, yes, fandom has been a huge reason while I've done all of that. (This is not something I advertise, though, especially not in real life.)

Just kidding - here are the Fandom questions!

[naye]

Fandom Questions:

At a guess, are the majority of the people you regularly fan with your nationality?

Heeee! No. I know two other non-related people with my exact nationality, to be all bratty and nitpicky. But I'll be nice and identify as a Swede for this. The answer is still no. XD (My current same-nationality-fan count is 2. One is one of my closest friends, the other one is a One Piece fan who also just happens to be Swedish - I've never met her.)

Do you think this changes depending on what fandom you’re in?
No.

If you go to live fan events/conventions/meet-ups, have you attended different fan events for media of different cultures? (E.g. have you gone to both conventions for an English-language series (such as Supernatural) and anime conventions?)If so, have you noticed any differences between such conventions?

I've actually mostly been to Japanese events, which aren't really cons at all... I did once go to a small anime con in Sweden, and I've been to one actor-specific con in the UK. Other than that, my con experience is sadly non-existent.

Have you ever attended fan events/conventions/meet-ups in more than one country? If so, did you notice any differences?

See above. (In Japan, the difference is that people go "WHOA GAIJIN" at you with various levels of interest and politeness. My Otherness is very much a thing here, for good and bad.)

Has fanning with people from various countries ever caused surprise/confusion/misunderstandings?

Yes. Well. Not fanning with people as much as fanning with fandom. I get kind of frustrated with race debates in fandom - you know the ones - because so much does not apply to my own country. And I get really annoyed with the way certain US fans refuse to believe that there is any other way of seeing the world (and these issues) than their way. I could rant about this for a long time, but I won't. (And I should also mention that being in fandom has taught me a lot of things I wouldn't otherwise know about race and gender issues in the US and UK.)

Do your expectations for the fandom and its fanwork change depending on the source culture?

Oh, yeah. I'm dipping a lurking toe in Japanese fandom, and it's a totally different thing from Western fandom. There's a whole different set of unwritten rules, a whole different set of resources, a whole different way of being a fan...

Of course, I'm not really able to participate in Japanese fandom yet, and even when I go to events and things, I'm still a big huge outsider... But, yeah, it's nothing like Western fandom.

For me, Western fandom is:
-sites like LJ, DW, FF.net, DeviantArt
-fic
-discussions
-vids
-cons with panels and meeting up with other fans
-a sense of community; one which has representatives in academics and law etc now through things like the OTW and acafans and Neil Gaiman and Cory Doctorow and others who are both sort of of the community and also campaigning for various issues (copyright etc) related to fandom

For me, Japanese fandom is:
-sites like Pixiv, Mixi, NicoNico Douga (and Twitter)
-lots of individual blogs
-art
-locked websites; paranoia
-anonymous non-discussion feedback like "web claps" etc
-disclaimers
-doujinshi events & cosplay
-a sense of shame and secrecy which paradoxically exists side by side with fandom products (doujinshi) and products fandom buy being available everywhere from grocery stores to clothing stores to lots of stores that sell nothing but fandom goods.

Re: Just kidding - here are the Fandom questions!

[gnine.livejournal.com]

...You're fantastic! *big huggles* Also, I love that your response to whether I can further contact you! ^_- Thanks so much for this! Hope you're having a relaxing weekend, sounds like you very much need it!