Fans are one of most widely-studied groups of media consumers. Often knowing more about a character or TV series than the stars or programmed-makers themselves, and ready to make surprising readings of plotlines and characters, they have been seen as the ultimate active audience.
FAN CULTURES is the first comprehensive overview of fans and fan theory. Emphasizing the contradictions of fandom, Matt Hills outlines the ways in which fans have been conceptualized in cultural theory and challenges many of these established paradigms. Hills draw on case studies of specific groups, such as Elvis impersonators, x-Philes and Trekkers, and discuss a range of approaches to fandom. Taking all of this into account, he ultimately questions whether the development of new media creates the possibility of new forms of fandom and explores the significance of the term 'cult' for media fans.
MATT HILLS is Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. He is co-editor of Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media (www.cult-media.com).
Part 1 Approaching fan cultures
1. Fan culture between consumerism and "resistance"
2. Fan culture between community and hierarchy
3. Fan culture between "knowledge" and "justification"
4. Fan culture between "fantasy" and "reality"
Part 2 Theorizing cult me
5. Fandom between cult and culture
6. Media cults: between the "textual" and the "extra textual"
7. Cult geographies: between the "textual" and the "spatial"
8. Cult bodies: between the "self" and the "other"