The National Theatre, London, as a theatrical/architectural object of fan imagination

Defining Conditional Belonging: The Case of Female Science Fiction Fans

“…A fan researching other fans is not an anomaly in fandom studies. Most fandom scholars are fans themselves (Bacon-Smith, 1992;Hills, 2002;Stanfill, 2013). Given this, Jenkins (2006) coined the term 'Acafan', maintaining that fans who study fandom should not be perceived as too biased to conduct academic research on their own identities and communities.…”

“…Fandom is an emotional connection to a popular culture content or persona, which stimulates behavioural, social and cognitive engagement (Booth and Kelly, 2013;Hills, 2002;Jenkins, 2007;Reinhard, 2018). Fans interact with their fandom through a plethora of diverse practices.…”

“…These activities include, for instance, what are known as transformative practices, such as writing fanfiction (Bacon-Smith, 1992;Larsen and Zubernis, 2011;Salter and Blodgett, 2017), producing and editing fan videos (Brough and Shresthova, 2012) and cosplaying 2 (Bourdaa, 2018;Lamerichs, 2011). Similarly, they demonstrate connoisseurship by memorising quotes, lyrics, stats, names and plotlines (Hills, 2002;Jenkins, 2007;Linden and Linden, 2016). With information meticulously curated over the years, fans approach their fanned text as experts.…”

“…In contrast to the stigmatising trope depicting science fiction fans as social outcasts or loners (Larsen and Zubernis, 2011;Salter and Blodgett, 2017), 'fans cannot exist in isolation' (Reinhard, 2018: 4). They frequently engage with each other, share ideas and take part in transformative works together, both online and off (Hills, 2002;Larsen and Zubernis, 2011). Social ties between fans are commonly associated with feelings of intimacy and belonging, which are cultivated through mutual interests (Bourdaa, 2018;Zubernis and Larsen, 2018).…”