Abstract

It has been argued that fans make explicit what everyone else does implicitly (Booth 2010). That is, fans interpret the world around them, communicate these meanings with others, and produce their own meanings based on those parts of the world that they like most (Fiske 1989). While all of us do this to various degrees, fans do so consciously, openly, and overtly (Sandvoss2005). Also, fans actively appropriate the objects of culture in this process and rework them to further their interests in what has been referred to as a form of participatory culture (Jenkins 2006a). Fans do not merely consume culture; they creatively (re)produce culture, thus contributing directly to societal discourse. While some fan scholars have emphasized fan practices as a form of rebellion (e.g., Lewis 1992; Jenson 1992; Jenkins 1992b), others point out that this is a deeply affective process, even for anti-fans (Grossberg 1992; Johnson 2007; Sandvoss 2005). For most, being a fan is ultimately a form of hedonic experience (Hirschman and Holbrook 1982). Even though many fans devote a considerable amount of time, effort, and energy into their respective fandoms, it is usually a labor of love (Smith et al. 2007).