Core Post #2

I have an impression that there is this polarized tendency in fandom studies in terms of whether we can think fandom as something empowering/emancipatory or exploitative as we can observe from the contrast between Jenkins and Andrejevic. I personally feel nuanced explication and critical assessment is needed on the issue especially under the condition of more and more complicated media ecology, and class/racial/gender politics. To think about this issue, Andrejevic’s intervention with the conception of labor interests me most in terms of thinking the fandom from the new arrangement of capital and labor in the contemporary society. I understand Anderjevic’s critical attempt was made partially to refute the overly optimistic assessment of fandom as a form of critical insights or subversive creativity. I personally agree with this stance rather than championing the liberatory aspect of fan activities.

However, if we are to add some critical inspection on the issue of audience, I think there are some other possible ways to make nuanced argument on this issue. One thing that comes to my mind is the example of fujoshi, or “rotten girls” in the Japanese context, who create slash fiction (male-male homoerotic texts) and engage in communication activities across physical space (comic market), and virtual space (Twitter, Pixiv (a Japanese fan art website)). Although many scholars view this phenomenon as something bearing feminist possibilities (Akiko Mizoguchi, 2003; Patrick W. Galbraith, 2011), mentioning that the fan fiction activities contribute to the creation of transgressive gender/sexuality norms, or new forms of intimacy where fujoshi create their shared imaginary. This type of argument is similar to Jenkins’ explication of female Star Trek fan as “poachers of textual meanings” who transform masculine culture into feminine culture.

Although I agree that fujoshi culture bears some critical possibilities for disrupting conception of heteronormativity and creation of alternative intimate-public sphere, I cannot help pointing out there are some elements existing against the utopian view of fandom. For example, their virtual and physical communities tend to be principally concerned with pairing their favorite couples and forming cliques based on these preferences, which then maintain fierce and combative rivalries with one another. Also, people in the community tend to judge other’s fan creation based on their already established consumer preferences rather than appreciating their creation based on its aesthetic merits. This consumption/creation behavior of fujoshi seems to throw the question of overly optimistic assessment of the fujoshi as liberating figures.