It’s always nice to see friends doing well, and in the case of Kristina Busse, there’s an added reward — seeing her name in print always means that something new and interesting is being said in the world of fan studies. In this case, it’s a double-header: the latest issue of Transformative Works and Cultures, the online journal Nina edits with Karen Hellekson, is up; and there’s a special section of the new Cinema Journal entitled “Fandom and Feminism: Gender and the Politics of Fan Production.” Both are well worth checking out, but I’m particularly excited about the CJ piece, which collects a number of writers I count myself lucky to know — among them Julie Levin Russo, Louisa Stein, and Alexis Lothian — and focuses a critical lens on exciting areas of creative practice in new media. Tables of contents are quoted below. Well done, Nina, and keep up the great work!
Transformative Works and Cultures, Vol 3 (2009)
Editorial
| Extending transformation |
HTML |
| TWC Editor |
Theory
| The labor of creativity: Women’s work, quilting, and the uncommodified life |
ABSTRACT HTML |
| Debora J Halbert |
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| Sex detectives: “Law & Order: SVU”‘s fans, critics, and characters investigate lesbian desire |
ABSTRACT HTML |
| Julie Levin Russo |
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Praxis
| Sites of participation: Wiki fandom and the case of Lostpedia |
ABSTRACT HTML |
| Jason Mittell |
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| Identity and authenticity in the filk community |
ABSTRACT HTML |
| Melissa L. Tatum |
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| The Web planet: How the changing Internet divided “Doctor Who” fan fiction writers |
ABSTRACT HTML |
| Leora Hadas |
Symposium
| The magic of television: Thinking through magical realism in recent TV |
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| Lynne Joyrich |
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| The future of academic writing? |
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| Avi Santo |
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| Repackaging fan culture: The regifting economy of ancillary content models |
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| Suzanne Scott |
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| Snogs of innocence, snogs of experience |
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| Dana Shilling |
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Playing [with] multiple roles: Readers, authors, and characters in
Who Is Blaise Zabini?” |
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| Anne Collins Smith |
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| “A Jedi like my father before me”: Social identity and the New York Comic Con |
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| Jen Gunnels |
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| The Hunt for Gollum: Tracking issues of fandom cultures |
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| Robin Anne Reid |
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| Pattern recognition: A dialogue on racism in fan communities |
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| TWC Editor |
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Interview
| Interview with Verb Noire |
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| K. Tempest Bradford |
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| Interview with Mark Smith and Denise Paolucci |
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| zvi LikesTV |
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| Interview with Chris Bouchard |
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| Emma Dollard |
Review
| “Camgirls: Celebrity and community in the age of social networks,” by Theresa M. Senft |
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| Adriano Barone |
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| “Introduction to Japanese horror film,” by Colette Balmain |
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| Alessia Alfieroni |
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| “Pride and prejudice and zombies: The classic Regency romance?Now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem!,” by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith |
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| Craig B. Jacobsen |
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Cinema Journal 48.4 (Summer 2009)
A Fannish Taxonomy of Hotness – Francesca Coppa
A Fannish Field of Value: Online Fan Gift Culture – Karen Hellekson
Should Fan Fiction Be Free? – Abigail De Kosnik
User-Penetrated Content: Fan Video in the Age of Convergence – Julie Levin Russo
Living in a Den of Thieves: Fan Video and Digital Challenges to Ownership – Alexis Lothian
Oh Bob,
You’re such a charmer!!! Thanks so much for the kind recommendation. And yes, I’m excited for the new TWC (some of the essays are really marvelous and we’ve stretched ourselves in terms of fannish endeavors!) and the CJ issue has some brilliantly provocative pieces. I think my favorite is Alexis’s reapplication of the undercommons, closely followed by the question of commercialism in fandom. But every one of them is really worth reading, aren’t they????