[ANPPOM-Lista] Call for Papers: “Fans & Fandoms” (Volume !)

[Carlos Palombini]

Argument

Celebrity, as a product of collective consumption by admirers called “fans”
(Lilti, 2014), appears as early as the 18th century, with figures spanning
the fields of literature, thought, or theater; revolutionary figures can
also become celebrities. Fandom developed in the 19th century, with the
phenomena of sports journalism and theater enthusiasts, before expanding to
the film press (Heinich, 2012).

But the term fan, like its archetypal figure (the Elvis or Beatles
“groupie” at concerts) and the phenomenon itself, seem to have particularly
taken hold in the field of music, with the emergence of rock and pop,
presleymania and then beatlesmania.

The first research on fans was carried out on cinema and music (Morin,
1972; Pouchelle, 1983) in France, and in the English-speaking world, with
the work of R. Cooper (1968) on beatlemania, or J. Fiske (1989) on pop
music fans, for example.

However, work on music fans is a blind spot academic work on fans,
especially in France. While such academic work does exist, it remains
relatively rare and is mainly based on case studies. Examples include M. C.
Pouchelle on Claude François fans, C. Le Bart (2000) on Beatles fans, G.
Segré on Presley fans and rituals, J. Dalbavie, (2012) on Brassens fans, M.
Duphil, (2017) or F. Ribac, (2017) on Madonna fans; more recently, E. Nesti
(2021), has worked on Dolcenera fans, A. Alessandrin and M. Toulze (2024),
on Mylène Farmer fans and E. Edwards-Grossi (2020) on Morrissey’s Latino
fans.

There are many more studies on fans of music and singers beyond our
borders, but they are hardly hegemonic. Examples include J. Fiske’s (1991)
work on the reception of Madonna, D. Cavicchi (1998) on Springsteen fans,
E. Doss (1999) on Elvis fans, C. B. Fried (2003) on rap and heavy metal
fans, and M. Hills (2007) on Michael Jackson fans, as well as M. Duffett’s
(2013) recent work.

Studies of music fans are still overshadowed film and television (Jenkins,
1992, Becon-Smith, 1992) as well as TV series, particularly in the field of
cultural studies. While many studies have been published beyond France, we
would like to highlight the work of D. Pasquier (1999) on fans of *Hélène
et les garçons*, P. Le Guern (2002) on the series *Le Prisonnier*(*The
Prisoner*), A.-S. Béliard (2009) on fans of *Prison Break*, and M. Bourdaa
(2012) on fans of *Battlestar Galatica*.

This is also du to the extension of the notion to a whole range of objects
and fandoms focused on Harry Potter (François, 2009), Walt Disney (Breda),
or musical events such as the Eurovision (Le Guern, 2007; Pointazeau,
2019), video games (Jenkins, 2006, Crawford, 2011), manga and cosplay
(Nouhet-Roseman, 2005), Lego toys (Antorini, Muñiz Jr and Askildsen, 2012).

The relegation of our objet – music fans – has resulted in the undermining
of certain issues, such as music fan recruitment spaces, fans and social
class, working-class or rural fans, or a detour via the religious
(initiated by the work of Pouchelle or Morin, which was submitted to harsh
criticism and quickly ignored within the field of fan studies).

Questions of participatory culture, content re-appropriation, creative
activity (fan art, cosplay, fan fiction, wikis, fansubbing, remixing,
mashups), work production, transformative works, “cultural and social
activism” (Bourdaa, 2021), now seem much more investigated. As do questions
of gender, sexual identities (Bourdaa & Alessandrin, 2017), fans in the age
of digital convergence (Booth, 2010; Jenkins 2013), civic engagement and
activism (Bourdaa, 2015).

This also means that certain categories of fans – those with lower levels
of education, from working-class backgrounds – have disappeared from
research and analysis, as have analyses of class, family interactions…

For this call for contributions, this issue aims to bring together works,
texts, analyses and studies on fans of music, singers and music groups,
focusing on several themes:
A historical look

A historical look at music fans. In this way, we can examine not only the
history of certain fan groups, magazines and conventions, but also the
history of these works on music fans, and in particular on singers and
bands.
A methodological reflection

A methodological reflection on the conditions for an ethnography of fans,
or on being a fan and studying fans (the research position and
relationships to the “aca-fan” object (Jenkins, Christofari, Guitton,
2015), applied to the musical universe. Conversely, the encounter with
otherness (the distant object), issues of distance and contempt can be
studied. Finally, we feel it is important to consider the possibilities and
conditions of quantitative research on fandoms: how can we establish a
sociological snapshot of a population of music fans? From this perspective,
an epistemological reflection could look at how music fans are considered
in the public domain or in scholarly literature, on a continuum between the
legitimation and the disqualification of their practices. More classically,
we could in this issue of *Volume!* question music as an “illegitimate”
object of research, and the effects of such positions on the production of
studies.
Fan trajectories

Becoming a fan: paths, careers, trajectories. Within music fandom, or in a
life trajectory, what does the status of “fan” do to the fan(s)? In this
respect, a cross-analysis of “emotions”, “memories” and “fan cultures”
would be justified. Being a fan is also a matter of practice, of gestures
and cultures: what practices, codes, conventions, norms and beliefs do they
have and resort to? Another aspect of fan practices relates to questions of
community, sociability, identification, identity or belonging. Just as the
question of the intersectionality of fan studies and studies on “race”,
sexuality or gender, we can investigate the question of the social,
psychological and imaginary links that are woven in these practices and
communities. At a time when fan studies are asserting their object as an
actor and not just as a passive consumer orspectator, we will also question
reception, creations and participatory cultures, as well as the benefits
(symbolic, materialprofits, skills, resources) for fans. We also invite
contributors to propose their studies of fan engagement (militant,
promotional, professional) in the wake of the many works on participatory
culture, co-creation activities, productions andfan militant engagement
(Fiske, Bourdaa, 2020).

*Submission procedures & timetable*

-       *Proposals for articles* (3,000 characters, spaces included),
accompanied by a title, a maximum of 5 bibliographical references and a
brief presentation of the author, should be sent before *31 January 2025 *to
the following address: *gabriel.segre em parisnanterre.fr
<gabriel.segre%40parisnanterre.fr?subject=Volume!%20Fans>**.*

-       *Authors will be notified of the acceptance or rejection of their
proposal* by *30 March 2025*.

-       They will then be able to *submit their article by 30 July 2025.* Final
contributions should not exceed *40,000 characters* (spaces included). They
should follow the journal’s instructions for authors
<https://journals.openedition.org/volume/1651>.

-       They will undergo the *Volume!*’s *double-blind peer review
procedure*: *acceptance of abstracts does not imply acceptance of the final
version of the article*.

*Contacts*

-       *Gabriel Segré* : gabriel.segre em parisnanterre.fr
<gabriel.segre%40parisnanterre.fr?subject=Volume%20!%20Fans>

-       *Arnaud Alessandrin* : arnaud.alessandrin em gmail.com
<arnaud.alessandrin em gmail.com?subject=Volume%20!%20Fans>

-       *Christophe Apprill*: christophe.apprill em orange.fr
<christophe.apprill em orange.fr?subject=Volume%20!%20fans>


Alessandrin, A., 2017, « “Who run the world? Girls!” Beyoncé, pop féminisme
et fandom », dans Alessandrin, A. et Bourdaa, M. (dir.), *Fan et genre
studies : la rencontre*, Téraèdre.

Anderson, T., 2012, “Still kissing their posters goodnight: Female fandom
and the politics of popular music ”, *Participations. Journal of Audience &
Reception Studies*, vol. 9.

Becon-Smith, C., 1992, *Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the
Creation of Popular Myth*, University of Pennsylvania Press.

Béliard, A.-S., 2009/1, “Pseudos, avatars et bannières : la mise en scène
des fans. Étude d’un forum de fans de la série télévisée *Prison Break*
(enquête) », *ENS Cachan | Terrains & travaux*, no 15, p. 191-212.

Bennet, L., 2012, “Music Fandom Online: R.E.M. fans in pursuit of the
ultimate first listen ”, *New Media & Society*, 14(5).

Berman, G., Lapidos, M., Bernstein, S., 2008, *« We’re Going to See the
Beatles! » : An Oral History of Beatlemania as Told by the Fans Who Were
There*, Solana Beach, CA: Santa Monica Press.

Booth, P., 2010, *Digital Fandom. New Media Studies*, New York, Peter Lang.

Bourdaa, M., 2012, « “Taking a break from all your worries” : *Battlestar
Galactica* et les nouvelles pratiques télévisuelles des fans », *Questions
de communication* [En ligne], 22, mis en ligne le 31 décembre 2014.

Bourdaa, M., 2020, « Quand les publics fans deviennent co-créateurs des
séries télévisées », *Effeuillage*, vol. 9, no 1, p. 15-19.

Bourdaa, M., 2019, « Les fans, ces publics si spécifiques. Définition et
méthodologie pour le chercheur », *Belphégor* [En ligne], 17.

Brooker, W., 2002, *Using the Force: Creativity, Community and Star Wars
Fans*, New York, London, Continuum.

Cherry, B., 2002, “Screaming for release: femininity and horror film fandom
in Britain ”, dans Chibnall, S., Petley, J. (dir.), *British Horror Cinema*,
Routledge, p. 42–57.

Collier, N., Lamadue, C., Wooten, H. R., 2009, « *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*
and *Xena: Warrior Princess*: Reception of the Texts by a Sample of Lesbian
Fans and Website Users », *Journal of Homosexuality*, 56(5), p. 575–609.

Cooper, R., 1968, *Beatlesmania: An Adolescent Contra-Culture*, MA Diss,
McGill University.

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fans de Bucarest », *Civilisations* [En ligne], 42-2, mis en ligne le 1er
décembre 1996, URL : journals.openedition.org/civilisations/2396.

Couldry, N., 2007, « On the Set of *The Sopranos*: ‘Inside’ a Fan’s
Construction of Nearness », dans Gray, J., Harrington, C. L., Sandvoss, C.
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York, New York University Press, p. 139–148.

Crawford, W., 2011, *Video Gamers*, Abingdon, Routledge.

Dalbavie, J., 2012, « Entre patrimoine et mémoire collective, la tombe de
Georges Brassens », *Questions de communication*, 22, p. 103-121.

DeAngelis, M., 2001, *Gay Fandom and Crossover Stardom: James Dean, Mel
Gibson, and Keanu Reeves*, Durham, Duke University Press.

Doss, E., 1999, *Elvis Culture: Fan, Face and Image*, University of Kansas
Press, Kansas.

Duffett, M., 2011, « Elvis Presley and Susan Boyle: Bodies of Controversy »,
 *Journal of Popular Music Studies*, 23(2), p. 166-188.

Duffett, M., 2013, *Understanding Fandom. An Introduction to the Study of
Media Fan Culture*, New York, London, Bloomsbury.

Duphil, M., 2017, « Fan de Madonna : d’une ethnographie réflexive à une
sociologie des affects », *Me, myself and I and Madonna*, consulté le 12
juillet 2024 à l’adresse https://madonnaethno.hypotheses.org/1.

Edwards-Grossi, E., “Mexican Blood, American Heart: l’entrepreneuriat de
soi et le culte DIY des fans latinos de Morrissey à Los Angeles ”, *Volume!*,
16:2-17:1, p. 225–241.

Fiske, J., 1992, “The cultural economy of fandom ”, dans Lewis, L. A.
(dir.), *The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media*, Londres,
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Fried, C. B., 2003, « Stereotypes of Music Fans: Are Rap and Heavy Metal
Fans a Danger to Themselves or Others? », *Journal of Media Psychology*,
8(3), publication en ligne le 1er septembre.

Guedj, P., 2012, « Freaks on this Side. Notes pour une analyse
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-- 

carlos palombini, ph.d. (dunelm)

pv-faperj ppgas mn ufrj