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gnineAs 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!
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Don't mind me, just starting a mini-discussion in the comments..
Date: 2010-07-13 04:34 pm (UTC)I should have put your bit about Japanese game shows in my response too! Humor is such a tricky thing, because it's generally so culturally based and doesn't translate well. Japanese humor still generally goes over my head too, though I have a great fondness for the tsukkomi/boke stuff (well, really only when Arashi do it) because the snarky comeback reminds me of the straight man/ridiculous man humor that you see sometimes in US and UK humor. Snark and wit works across cultures for me.
Answering here, because it's ...about culture? At least somewhat!
Date: 2010-07-13 06:33 pm (UTC)Btw, I read your stuff too, and it was SO interesting to see how differently we viewed some of the stuff, or just how different a focus we put on things! You'd thought of things that I hadn't even considered. (The awesome female characters in Japanese anime/manga/drama, for example - I'd totally forgotten them! Possibly because I haven't really watched/read any of those three in ages and I used to read/watch shonen shows more than shojo, but still, that's really somewhat embarrassing. ^^")
And I'm completely with you on the (Arashi-based) tsukkomi/boke stuff! "Snark and wit works across cultures for me", indeed: I just recently started watching the British motor show "Top Gear" and really, the first thing I thought when I saw the three presenters interacting was "OMG THESE THREE MIDDLE-AGED BRITISH GUYS ACT LIKE ARASHI! O_O", because they have exactly the same kind of "showing their friendship through snarking, being horrible to each other and then turning around and being somewhat sweet towards each other" that Arashi have. (Seriously, in one of the vids I watched they were in Africa and one of them fell in love with the car - and old Opel Kadett - he was driving. Cue endless mocking from the other, culminating in them playing sad love songs through their ipods at him when his car broke down. I honestly sat there and thought "...this is exactly what the Arashi members would do...")
I wonder which this has more to do with: Similar concepts of humour, or similar concepts of friendship?
Re: Answering here, because it's ...about culture? At least somewhat!
Date: 2010-07-13 08:40 pm (UTC)Ooh, now *that's* an interesting question. I'd actually be more inclined to lean towards the latter, rather than the former. I, too, have found humor to be one of the hardest things to translate between cultures and, at least in the situations your describing, though it *is* definitely funny, there's also an element of these guys joking around and just being *them* and we happen to find it funny or cute and adorable (or slashy *cough* ^_-)
What d'ya think?
Friendship- Team!
Date: 2010-07-15 08:38 am (UTC)One Piece manga/anime has a similar idea, of nakama, which I think roughly translates to crewmates. People who are together through thick and thin, support each other and have fun (and fight evil). Nakamaship, where you're closer than family. I've seen this with a variety of sentai/group superhero manga, like Sailor Moon!
Did you ever read, hmm, I think say-it-again translated it, some articles in Japanese media that tried to delve into why Arashi's popularity as a boyband was rising across all different demographics? I remember a big reason was because Arashi as a group was really close, that as someone outside the group, you could feel their closeness and friendship and felt drawn to them because of that.
you know, for all that fanfic and fanworks tend to focus on the romances, I...hmm, don't really have a point, but I'm wondering how much friendship and other bonds are a draw in getting people into a source/canon?
I'm sorry, I am in need of sleep, I'll probably look back on this in the morning and think, what on earth did I write. |D;;; Oh well. ^^;;;