Academic studies are increasingly paying attention to active audiences and participatory cultures. The figure of the fan – the enthusiastic, adoring, productive, but critical audience member – perhaps best captures these cultures. Both online and offline, fans have their own subcultures, habits and local practices.
European Fan Cultures 2015 – Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
12-13 November, 2015
Fandom represents what it means to engage with pop-culture today. Increasingly, fans are active, inspired and passionate followers of media content. Yet, the meaning-making processes of fans might vary greatly, especially when exploring these processes from a geographical perspective. The diversity of Europe offers an interesting setting to explore the broad variety of these different sets of fan practices, think about questions such as: How do fans understand objects of global or transnational pop-culture in their national or local context? Or how is one’s national identity of influence in (global) fan activism? What challenges unfold when fan production happens in the local language (e.g. fan fiction or fan forums)?
European Fan Cultures 2015 invites inspiring talks about European fan studies and related topics. The topic of fans and fan cultures connects a wide range of disciplines. We welcome scholars who investigate (but not limited to) audiences, media, leisure, tourism, games and celebrities. Early career scholars and PhD students are especially invited to contribute.
The conference will feature Cornell Sandvoss as a keynote speaker. He is the author of Fans: Mirror of Consumption, and co-editor of Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World as well as Aging, Media and Culture. Furthermore, we invite participants to engage in workshops on the current status quo of research into European Fan Cultures.
European Fan Cultures
– – Local fandom and audience cultures
– – National identity in media tourism, game communities, music and sports
– – Transcultural fandom
– – Politics and fandom
Media and European fandoms
– – Fan activism
– – Fan works and practices
– – Anti-fandom
– – Reception of video games, music, television
– – Construction of celebrity images
Methods and Approaches
– – Challenges of local fan studies, such as language issues
– – (Internet) ethnography
– – Ethics of researching fans, users and consumers
Please submit an abstract of max. 250 words and a short biography by the 19th of June to: efc@eshcc.eur.nl
Your submission should include:
– – Your name, email address, institutional affiliation and position
– – 3 keywords to help classify your panel
Notifications of acceptance will be send out before the 5th of August. The deadline for registration and payment is the 4th of September. There is a fee of 80€ which covers participations costs (including lunch and refreshments on both days).
