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O Mighty Flist (and beyond), I seek your assistance!
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!
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!
Re: Just kidding - here are the Fandom questions!
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, and as for posting some of this in your own journal, sorry never got back to you on that but certainly, go right ahead! ^__^
More answers pt 1
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.
Hmm. I'm a very picky kind of fan - I don't fan widely. I fan in more focused way, and those ways are (of course) focused on what I like. And what I like doesn't change. So I read a little bit of fic, and watch some vids, and enjoy looking at fanworks.
Obviously, the main difference for me is that I can get doujinshi for my Japanese fandoms - I can't for most western stuff. And I love doujinshi. I love the way they're lovingly crafted, I love the stories they tell and the gorgeous art, and I love the act of meeting up with creators and buying it straight from them.
Other than that, I can't say that I've registered any differences in my fanning - well, except that the people I fan with are different too, maybe? There are precious few people who are fans of both western and Japanese stuff, sadly.
As a random note of interest, when it comes to vids, I think there's a huge difference in the vids I've seen for western stuff, and anime vids. The styles are totally different - I'm no expert, but I think it's totally clear that they come from two different places. (And I might even add that I believe the western vidding was pioneered by women, while the anime vidding is more of a male hobby.)
Plus, there's Japanese vids, made by Japanese fans - they're called "MAD", and some of them are actual handmade vids. As in, hand-drawn animation. Some are silly memes like Caramelldansen, or the Conbini thing, but others are gorgeously animated vids which tell little stories - and yet others are made in the style of famous anime openings and closings, featuring other fandoms' characters. (This probably sounds confusing! To explain it fully I should probably write an essay of my own, but I just wanted to mention it, because I find it interesting!)
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.)
Hm. Well, I think it's the people I've met as much as the fandom that have drawn out different sides of me. I started out lurking, then lurked some more. Then I sent some feedback (this was way before LJ - we're talking commenting through mail here), and got some fandom friends, and I wrote a tiny bit. Then I went back to lurking.
Stargate: Atlantis brought out the ficcer in me - it was such a creative environment; I wrote more than I ever have. And now that I'm in One Piece I'm writing sporadically. Much shorter stuff, because I can't really do long and plotty with One Piece - canon simply doesn't leave gaps big enough for that. (Not like SGA, which was half made of holes - a wonderful opportunity for fandom, if not brilliant TV.)
Don't know if this is related to the western/Japanese divide? In my earlier comments, I wrote that I feel that Japanese things tend to be much richer in their plotting. Much more focused on story arcs with far-reaching consequences and character development and such, which makes it harder to find room in canon for long, complex fanfic that develops the characters. With western stuff, especially the more episodic shows, that's much easier.
More answers pt 2
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.
I'm so-so interested. I identify mostly as a gen fan, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy reading m/m stuff. I don't really do shipping the way most fangirls seem to? But I do like the occasionally explicit doujinshi or PWP fic!
Second part of your question (and this is all in my opinion, of course - I always feel like I need to disclaim stuff least anyone thinks I believe I am trying to come across as an expert on everything):
There's a lot of trite and silly and unrealistic m/m fic and art on both sides of the Pacific. But if we look at what goes for good stuff, I'd say western fandom is way more interested in pursuing a portrayal of m/m relationships that are believable and maybe at least a little realistic? People have discussions on the portrayal of safe sex, the omission of lube will draw attention, and there's an enormous amount of advice on how to write realistic m/m sex. Plus there's the whole emotional aspect - Western fic deal with the subjects such as being a gay man in the US military, or coming out to your family, or other such subjects.
In contrast, the Japanese fandom do... well, I haven't read all that much, but a lot of it is totally unrealistic. And nobody really seems to care? There are self-lubricating asses and traditional seme/uke roles and if it goes beyond PWP the fact that they're both guys doesn't come up all that much?
I dunno. Like I said - I'm mostly a gen fan. But even I can tell that things like pairing order is still a HUGE deal - something that's not really the case in western fandoms based on western shows. But here? Doujinshi are classified by uke. That's - yeah. It matters. It matters to the point where the new-ish category of "reversible" is something doujinka warn people about. (The word they use is "riba", リバ, and the riba doujin I've read are the closest thing I've seen dj come to the way western fans write PWP, if that makes sense? Of course, my sample is tiny.)
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?
See above! If it's Japanese, I'm not too surprised to see one of the guys be portrayed as - basically - a girl. In western fandom, I'd expect a fic like that to get ridiculed/shamed, because that's not how gay men work. In Japan? Yaoi/BL really isn't about gay men. (I'm not saying that western slash is, but you know - at least we pretend it is, most of the time? And have discussions about whether this is okay or not and such.)
Other things I expect in doujinshi: asses that work like vaginas (who needs lube or prepping?). Semes staying dressed. Crying boys. "No, no, no!" means "Yes, yes, yes!". No foreplay - or no sex acts other than actual penetration. The bottom covering their face, blushing, going "Don't look at me!" Beautiful, mostly androgynous bodies. Little to no body hair. LOTS OF FLUIDS. XD
Stuff I expect in fic: paragraphs of dialogue during sex (and lots of talking in general - often about emotions). Realistically described sex (it can be bad; it might need preparation and props etc). Kinks. Bodies that aren't "perfect" (SGA fandom was faithful to the actors portraying the characters?).
Finally, I've read some terrible sex and m/m in both western and Japanese fandoms, and I've also read absolutely amazing fics/dj about the same. I don't think either culture has an edge over the other - they can both suck, and they can both do absolutely incredibly things.