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.
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Just kidding - here are the Fandom questions!
Date: 2010-07-24 03:32 am (UTC)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.