fandom: a history (working)

Fandom: A HistoryPresented by Katie Felong

Opening

• We will:• Talk about the founding fathers and mothers

of fandom• Fandom over the past hundred years.• We’ll explore different types of media through

the ages and how this ultimately lead to the development of fan fiction and fan culture.• This spans from literature, comics, television,

film, and Internet.

• Discuss blogging platforms have allowed fans to connect like never before.

Thesis

Quote

“News is the collaborative process making meaning out of events” (p. 49).

Before the fans...

There were stories...

Over time stories evolved from oral tradition, into literature...

Literature

Some of the earliest forms of literature were stories.

Some of the most well know stories were later transcribed as literature.

Early Works

Some of these early works included...

Gilgamesh

The “Epic of Gilgamesh”Some of you might remember reading in high school) .

Is a poem written on tablets in ancient Mesopotamia

Some consider it an early work of science fiction

The Bible

Some people consider the Bible an early form of fan fiction.

People shared stories and wrote about the life and times of Jesus and his followers.

There is a fan fiction section for the Bible on fanfiction.net.

Utopian Societies

Written about inPlato’s “Republic”

Lucian’s True History (150 CE)

...And FrankensteinWritten by Mary Shelley in 1819

At this time, pamphlets and newspapers had been created, but not literary journals, like we know today.

Part of the popularity can be attributed to the increasing numbers of the western population that could read.

So they began to create content that the people would want to read.

At this time, short stories and long poetry prose/ narratives existed, but novels, as we know them, were just entering the world.

Some people consider “The Iliad and the Odyssey” the first novel, however.

Mary Shelley (a founding mother)

She was not a medical doctor!

But, she knew a lot of people that were “mad”

Not physically disabled, but mentally ill- many likely had bi-polar disorder and the likes.

She was surrounded by many Romantic Poets (including her husband).

Early Science Fiction

When Harry Enton got tired of writing what he thought of as "juvenile" books, a man named Luis P. Senarens was commissioned to write about Frank Reade's son, Frank Reade, Jr. The popularity of this series eventually lead to the even more

Science fiction pulps always had a young readership, but many of them were taken away, when comic books about superheroes came about in 1939

The late 1940’s brought about paperbacks

Comics

Have been around since the Victorian Age

The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuc in 1837

But “Yellow Man” might be considered the first “modern comic”

Mickey Mouse comics in 1930-31

Popeye: the pre-super hero in 1929

Superheroes

“The Pulps” Arrive

Were preceded by “dime novels”

“The Pulps” were some of the first magazines aimed at specific demographics

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (perhaps you’ve heard of him?) was one of these authors

He was a medical doctor, but wrote short stories about a detective named Sherlock Holmes in his spare time.

The stories of Poe and Verne sparked peoples’ interest in stories about exotic places and crazy adventures.

Film

During the 1920’s “the roaring twenties”, people flocked to theatres to see their favorite silent films and later “Talkies”.

Often people would go to watch news reels at the movies.

“The Nickelodeons”

Radio

Elvis Presley and the Beatles

Live Television

In the 1950’s television cameras allowed the action to be brought directly to the homes of their audiences.

In 1952, the Democratic and Republican national conventions aired live coast-to-coast from Chicago.

“Beetlemania”

The term used to describe the fan frenzy...”

The Ed Sullivan Show & their popularity

Prime Time Soap Operas

Dallas

Originally funded by the soap company?

Dick Cavett

o An America TV show host in the 1950’s

o He interviewed the likes of Katherine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Marlon Brando, and John Lennon.

o He built his program around the concept of making a conversation

o Sort of an “early Oprah”

Music Television (MTV)

Mystery Television

American Masterpiece TheatreWas one of the first things to catch America’s attention of mystery and intrigue shows.

Early American fans would turn in every week for a radio show, cartoon strip of TV show.

Early Crime Shows include: Man Against Crime and Peter Gunn.

The “Crime Show Template” was developed and used in shows such as Perry Mason.

Talk Shows

The Tonight Show premiered in 1954

Edward R. Murrow

Oprah and her ability to very naturally and easily connect with her audiences.

Began in 1983 in Chicago.

“Part confessional, part spiritual celebration, the series took conversations with everyday people, as well as celebrities and transformed them into intimate, personal encounters.” (The Museum).

Star Trek

Premiered in 1968

First Star Trek fanzine in 1967

First fan convention in 1969

Gained most of its attention after its return in 1969

“According to Michael Jindra of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the show's fandom "has strong affinities with a religious-type movement", with "an origin myth, a set of beliefs, an organization, and some of the most active and creative members to be found anywhere."

Internet

ARPA NETTo connect important places for the US military

Neverending stories, p. 79

Photomanipulation on computers as early as 1963

Black Box Theory

Web 2.0

Post Web 2.0 and media convergence

Early Social Networks

Were dating sites as early as 1997

Message Boards

Early messages boardsLive journal

Xanga

Gaia online

Geocities

Fanzines

Personal websites

Later message boardsfanfiction.net

Archive of our own

Tumblr

Ray Kurzweil and The Convergence

Cross Platform

"Right now, convergence culture is getting defined top-down by decisions being made in corporate boardrooms and bottom-up by decisions made in teenagers’ bedrooms. It is shaped by the desires of media conglomerates to expand their empires across multiple platforms and by the desires of consumers to have the media they want where they want it, when they want it, and in the format they want it." (Jenkins, 2006).

Recommended Readings

Henry Jenkins

The End!

Thank you!

Connect with Me!

Katiefelong.com

katiefelong@yahoo.com

Twitter.com/katiefelong

Katiefelongphotography.com

Comfortablecupofcoffee.tumblr.com

Bibliography

1. http://www.public.asu.edu/~paulcook/General%20Introduction%20to%20SF.htm

2. http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Talk_show.html

3. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/about-masterpiece/

4. http://www.thecomicbooks.com/old/Platinum.html

5. The Museum