Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture (Studies in Culture and Communication)

"Get a life" William Shatner told Star Trek fans. Yet, as Textual Poachers argues, fans already have a "life," a complex subculture which draws its resources from commercial culture while also reworking them to serve alternative interests. Rejecting stereotypes of fans as cultural dupes, social misfits, and mindless consumers, Jenkins represents media fans as active producers and skilled manipulators of program meanings, as nomadic poachers constructing their own culture from borrowed materials, as an alternative social community defined through its cultural preferences and consumption practices. Written from an insider's perspective and providing vivid examples from fan artifacts, Textual Poachers offers an ethnographic account of the media fan community, its interpretive strategies, its social institutions and cultural practices, and its troubled relationship to the mass media and consumer capitalism. Drawing on the work of Michel de Certau, Jenkins shows how fans of Star Trek , Blake's 7 , The Professionals , Beauty and the Beast , Starsky and Hutch, Alien Nation, Twin Peaks , and other popular programs exploit these cultural materials as the basis for their stories, songs, videos, and social interatctions. Addressing both academics and fans, Jenkins builds a powerful case for the richness of fan culture as a popular response to the mass media and as a challenge to the producers' attempts to regulate textual meanings. Textual Poachers guides readers through difficult questions about popular consumption, genre, gender, sexuality, and interpretation, documenting practices and processes which test and challenge basic assumptions of contemporary media theory. Book Cover......Page 1 Half-Title......Page 2 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 7 Introduction......Page 9 1 “Get a Life!”: Fans, Poachers, Nomads......Page 17 FANS AND “FANATICS”......Page 20 “A SCANDALOUS CATEGORY”......Page 24 TEXTUAL POACHERS......Page 32 FANS AND PRODUCERS......Page 36 READING AND MISREADING......Page 41 NOMADIC READERS......Page 44 WHAT DO POACHERS KEEP?......Page 53 2 How Texts become Real......Page 59 FROM BYSTANDERS TO FANS......Page 63 SITTING TOO CLOSE?......Page 68 VCRs, RERUNS AND REREADING......Page 76 THE SOCIAL PRODUCTION OF MEANING......Page 85 CASE STUDY: ALT.TV.TWINPEAKS......Page 86 FAN GOSSIP......Page 89 3 Fan Critics......Page 96 “THE RIGHT WAY”......Page 98 PROGRAM SELECTION......Page 100 THE CASE OF ALIEN NATION......Page 102 CONSTRUCTING THE PROGRAM CANON......Page 105 STAR TREK: THE META-TEXT......Page 109 EMOTIONAL REALISM AND GENDERED READERS......Page 117 4 “It’s Not a Fairy Tale Anymore”: Gender, Genre, Beauty and the Beast......Page 130 ONCE UPON A TIME.........Page 133 FROM READING THE ROMANCE TO READING AS ROMANCE......Page 143 “PROMISES OF SOMEDAY”......Page 145 “FEEL THE FURY”......Page 155 5 Scribbling in the Margins: Fan Readers/Fan Writers......Page 163 “SILLY PUTTY”......Page 167 ZINES AND THE FAN COMMUNITY......Page 169 TEN WAYS TO REWRITE A TELEVISION SHOW......Page 173 CASE STUDY: LESLIE FISH’S THE WEIGHT......Page 190 6 “Welcome to Bisexuality, Captain Kirk”: Slash and the Fan-Writing Community......Page 198 “SLASH” AS FEMALE PORNOGRAPHY......Page 205 SLASH AS ANDROGYNOUS ROMANCE......Page 206 SLASH AND FANTASY IDENTIFICATION......Page 211 “FRAUGHT WITH DANGER”......Page 214 SLASH AND HOMOSOCIAL DESIRE......Page 215 THE FORMULAIC STRUCTURE OF SLASH......Page 219 FANS DEBATE SLASH......Page 233 7 “Layers of Meaning”: Fan Music Video and the Poetics of Poaching......Page 236 “HALF-AND-HALF THINGS”......Page 237 FAN VIDEO/FAN WRITING......Page 240 “TAPESTRY”......Page 243 FAN VIDEO AND MTV......Page 245 VOICING THE CHARACTERS’ THOUGHTS......Page 248 START MAKING SENSE......Page 251 THE POETICS OF POACHING......Page 253 VIDEO ART AND THE FAN COMMUNITY......Page 258 8 “Strangers No More, We Sing”: Filk Music, Folk Culture, and the Fan Community......Page 263 “ALL OF THE ELEMENTS ARE THERE”......Page 266 CASE STUDY: PHILCON, 1989......Page 269 “SCIENCE WONKS, WIMPS, AND NERDS”......Page 273 “ESCAPE FROM MUNDANIA”......Page 276 “TOAST FOR UNKNOWN HEROES”......Page 278 “NEITHER FISH NOR FOWL”: FILK AND THE FOLK TRADITION......Page 282 FILK IN TRANSITION......Page 287 CONCLUSION......Page 291 APPENDIX......Page 302 Sources......Page 321 Index......Page 338 Social Sciences Book Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 7 Introduction 9 1 “Get a Life!”: Fans, Poachers, Nomads 17 FANS AND “FANATICS” 20 “A SCANDALOUS CATEGORY” 24 TEXTUAL POACHERS 32 FANS AND PRODUCERS 36 READING AND MISREADING 41 NOMADIC READERS 44 WHAT DO POACHERS KEEP? 53 2 How Texts become Real 59 FROM BYSTANDERS TO FANS 63 SITTING TOO CLOSE? 68 VCRs, RERUNS AND REREADING 76 THE SOCIAL PRODUCTION OF MEANING 85 CASE STUDY: ALT.TV.TWINPEAKS 86 FAN GOSSIP 89 3 Fan Critics 96 “THE RIGHT WAY” 98 PROGRAM SELECTION 100 THE CASE OF ALIEN NATION 102 CONSTRUCTING THE PROGRAM CANON 105 STAR TREK: THE META-TEXT 109 EMOTIONAL REALISM AND GENDERED READERS 117 4 “It’s Not a Fairy Tale Anymore”: Gender, Genre, Beauty and the Beast 130 ONCE UPON A TIME... 133 FROM READING THE ROMANCE TO READING AS ROMANCE 143 “PROMISES OF SOMEDAY” 145 “FEEL THE FURY” 155 5 Scribbling in the Margins: Fan Readers/Fan Writers 163 “SILLY PUTTY” 167 ZINES AND THE FAN COMMUNITY 169 TEN WAYS TO REWRITE A TELEVISION SHOW 173 CASE STUDY: LESLIE FISH’S THE WEIGHT 190 6 “Welcome to Bisexuality, Captain Kirk”: Slash and the Fan-Writing Community 198 “SLASH” AS FEMALE PORNOGRAPHY 205 SLASH AS ANDROGYNOUS ROMANCE 206 SLASH AND FANTASY IDENTIFICATION 211 “FRAUGHT WITH DANGER” 214 SLASH AND HOMOSOCIAL DESIRE 215 THE FORMULAIC STRUCTURE OF SLASH 219 FANS DEBATE SLASH 233 7 “Layers of Meaning”: Fan Music Video and the Poetics of Poaching 236 “HALF-AND-HALF THINGS” 237 FAN VIDEO/FAN WRITING 240 “TAPESTRY” 243 FAN VIDEO AND MTV 245 VOICING THE CHARACTERS’ THOUGHTS 248 START MAKING SENSE 251 THE POETICS OF POACHING 253 VIDEO ART AND THE FAN COMMUNITY 258 8 “Strangers No More, We Sing”: Filk Music, Folk Culture, and the Fan Community 263 “ALL OF THE ELEMENTS ARE THERE” 266 CASE STUDY: PHILCON, 1989 269 “SCIENCE WONKS, WIMPS, AND NERDS” 273 “ESCAPE FROM MUNDANIA” 276 “TOAST FOR UNKNOWN HEROES” 278 “NEITHER FISH NOR FOWL”: FILK AND THE FOLK TRADITION 282 FILK IN TRANSITION 287 CONCLUSION 291 APPENDIX 302 Sources 321 Index 338

"Get a life" William Shatner told Star Trek fans. Yet, as Textual Poachers argues, fans already have a "life," a complex subculture which draws its resources from commercial culture while also reworking them to serve alternative interests. Rejecting stereotypes of fans as cultural dupes, social misfits, and mindless consumers, Jenkins represents media fans as active producers and skilled manipulators of program meanings, as nomadic poachers constructing their own culture from borrowed materials, as an alternative social community defined through its cultural preferences and consumption practices.

Written from an insider's perspective and providing vivid examples from fan artifacts, Textual Poachers offers an ethnographic account of the media fan community, its interpretive strategies, its social institutions and cultural practices, and its troubled relationship to the mass media and consumer capitalism. Drawing on the work of Michel de Certau, Jenkins shows how fans of Star Trek, Blake's 7, The Professionals, Beauty and the Beast, Starsky and Hutch, Alien Nation, Twin Peaks, and other popular programs exploit these cultural materials as the basis for their stories, songs, videos, and social interatctions.

Addressing both academics and fans, Jenkins builds a powerful case for the richness of fan culture as a popular response to the mass media and as a challenge to the producers' attempts to regulate textual meanings. Textual Poachers guides readers through difficult questions about popular consumption, genre, gender, sexuality, and interpretation, documenting practices and processes which test and challenge basic assumptions of contemporary media theory.

""Get a life" William Shatner told Star Trek fans. Yet, as Textual Poachers argues, fans already have a "life," a complex subculture which draws its resources from commercial culture while also reworking them to serve alternative interests. Rejecting stereotypes of fans as cultural dupes, social misfits, and mindless consumers, Jenkins represents media fans as active producers and skilled manipulators of program meanings, as nomadic poachers constructing their own culture from borrowed materials, as an alternative social community defined through its cultural preferences and consumption practices. Written from an insider's perspective and providing vivid examples from fan artifacts, Textual Poachers offers an ethnographic account of the media fan community, its interpretive strategies, its social institutions and cultural practices, and its troubled relationship to the mass media and consumer capitalism. Drawing on the work of Michel de Certau, Jenkins shows how fans of Star Trek, Blake's 7, The Professionals, Beauty and the Beast, Starsky and Hutch, Alien Nation, Twin Peaks, and other popular programs exploit these cultural materials as the basis for their stories, songs, videos, and social interatctions. Addressing both academics and fans, Jenkins builds a powerful case for the richness of fan culture as a popular response to the mass media and as a challenge to the producers' attempts to regulate textual meanings. Textual Poachers guides readers through difficult questions about popular consumption, genre, gender, sexuality, and interpretation, documenting practices and processes which test and challenge basic assumptions of contemporary media theory." -- Back cover The twentieth anniversary edition of Henry Jenkins's Textual Poachers brings this now-canonical text to a new generation of students interested in the intersections of fandom, participatory culture, popular consumption and media theory. Supplementing the original, classic text is an interview between Henry Jenkins and Suzanne Scott in which Jenkins reflects upon changes in the field since the original release of Textual Poachers. A study guide by Louisa Stein helps provides instructors with suggestions for the way Textual Poachers can be used in the contemporary classroom, and study questions encourage students to consider fan cultures in relation to consumer capitalism, genre, gender, sexuality, and more. An ethnographic study of communities of media fans, their interpretative strategies, its social institutions and cultural practices. Jenkins focuses on fans of popular TV programmes, including Star Trek and The Professionals.