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- Volume 3, Issue 3, 2015
Journal of Fandom Studies, The - Volume 3, Issue 3, 2015
Volume 3, Issue 3, 2015
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Who’s messing with Jane?: Graphic novels and the Jane Austen fan
More LessAbstractOver the last two decades, adaptations of Jane Austen’s works as well as numerous works of Austen fan fiction have saturated contemporary culture. In addition to realistic, period-piece dramas that retell the novels in a linear, realistic, representational form, Austen’s body of work has inspired spin-offs, spoofs and homages, including in 2009 a graphic novel version of Pride and Prejudice. By examining how readers of Jane Austen novels respond to Nancy Butler’s graphic novel adaptations, I identify key shifts in the development of the Jane Austen fan community and provide an overview of the emergence of classical prose in a graphic novel format. Then I turn to the Butler’s adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Northanger Abbey to explore how fans respond to comic versions of Jane Austen’s works. In particular, by focusing attention on the use of the narrative voice, panel structure and sequence, and character illustrations in these graphic novel adaptations, one can better understand why these participants in this study found these adaptations less satisfying than Austen’s books, subsequent adaptations of her works and other forms of fan fiction.
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Misogynoir and antiblack racism: What The Walking Dead teaches us about the limits of Speculative Fiction fandom
More LessAbstractAntiblack racial antagonisms manifest in discourse through audience engagement with characters in Speculative Fiction (SF). This article addresses the ways that a fictional black woman in a popular SF series gets constructed in the public imaginaries of a popular fandom community. The character Michonne from the dystopian comic book series and television drama, The Walking Dead, provides an excellent occasion to examine audience engagement that distinctly operates within a recognizable cultural frame. The character’s reception between has sparked much debate and criticism due to the ways that she is understood and dramatized in relation to other characters in the series. While a majority of fan content regarding the character recognizes her skill and abilities for survival with relative positivity, she is routinely regarded as an outsider, perpetually unfeeling or emotionally inept. The result is a broad lack of empathy mitigated by antiblack misogyny. It is as though her character is regarded as a functional object (a weapon) and less than human, which bears the weight of the question of black non-ontology as a requirement for social order. This is particularly interesting within an imagined world of the undead. This article interrogates the ways in which fandom communities actively cite, circulate and produce discourses that sustain structural antagonisms, as well as how they contribute to, respond, or engage particularly problematic tropes regarding black female subjectivities.
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Savage sexism: Examining gendered intelligence in Hulk and She-Hulk comics
More LessAbstractBy using Hulk and She-Hulk comics from the 1980s as subjects for a case study, this article explores the seemingly lost potential of She-Hulk’s intelligence and exposes the problematic depictions of female superheroes as seen in her comics. This article pushes back against the practice of citing fans and their preferences as rationale for the troubling depictions of gendered bodies that so often characterize superhero comics (especially in a context of the 1980s cult of fitness), and examines not only these gendered representations, but also the gender differences in comics readership. In looking for alternatives to and subversive moments against these gendered social messages, this article also discusses the extent to which intelligence can be read as a sexually neutralizing element for Bruce Banner (Hulk) and his cousin Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk). Ultimately, it seems that, at least in the 1980s, attempts at smashing the status quo were countered by the stereotypical sexism produced and perpetuated by patriarchy.
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The fan and the female superhero in comic books
Authors: Caryn E. Neumann and Lori L. ParksAbstractDespite an increasing number of fangirls, female superheroes continue to represent the fears and concerns of male readers. These characters are not representative of girls or women despite their possession of a female form. Through the characterization and body shapes of male and female superheroes, the comics have remained focused upon fanboys. The female body in comics is not powerful but, instead, reinforces male dominance. While fangirls have made an effort to become a vocal force within comic book culture, the design of comic book content continues to marginalize girls and women.
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The Adventures of Ms. Meta: The female superhero and her cultural importance
By Sarah ZaidanAbstractWilliam Moulton Marston, inspired by his wife and beliefs, created a female superhero in 1941, seeking to address how the feminine archetype in western society ‘lacks force, strength and power’, and that ‘women’s strong qualities have become despised’. Wonder Woman was the result, and the character has achieved iconic status in popular culture seven decades later. While there is a wealth of research examining the representation of the female superhero and how this speaks to perceptions of femininity across the past 70 years, its focus is the prevalence of stereotypical over authentic depictions, and the harmful effects of this on society. However, the existing cultural impact and importance of female superheroes to readers of all genders cannot be ignored; to do so is to the detriment of both fans and scholars of comics. My research combines the platform of digital media with the artistic styles and narrative themes of comics, culminating in a narrative video game that brings together original comic pages, texts and animated sequences. The game tells the story of Meta Woman, a self-created superhero, from her first appearance in the ‘we can do it!’ 1940s, her reinventions as Miss Meta in the aftermath of the Comics Code of the 1950s, Ms Meta in the liberated 1970s and beyond, concluding in the present day. By cross-references comic representations of women with fan experience and stories of women from each era, the game showcases the power of female superheroes, and makes them relevant to each user’s life and experiences.
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Reviews
Authors: Veronica Popp and Elliot HardmanAbstractTime on TV: Temporal Displacement and Mashup Television, Paul Booth (2012) New York: Peter Lang Publishers, 255 pp., ISBN: 978-1433115691, p/bk, $39.95
The Ashgat e Resear ch Companion to Fan Cultures, Kinda Duits, Koos Zwaan, and Stijn Reinders (2014) Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 306 pp., ISBN: 9781409455622, h/bk, $149.95
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