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