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featherxquill) wrote2006-12-22 05:18 pm
featherxquill) wrote2006-12-22 05:18 pm
Entry tags:
Fandom Journeys - Fan Activity and Online Participation in Harry Potter
Do you guys remember, a while ago, when I put out a call for you to share your fandom journeys?. Well. I did promise to post it when it was done, and well, now that my results are back, and were so positive, I figure it must actually be worth the read, so, well, here it is.
Many, many thanks to EVERYONE who responded to me. I was quite overwhlemed by everyone's willingness to talk about their fandom experiences, and I wish I could have included more of your words in here. But my teacher had a few very definite ideas about using informtion collected online, so I had to be very selective about which ones worked best with what I was saying. Also, I have no idea how to indent long quotes with html, so please frgive the italics.
Some of you fellow Patronus attendees might recognise yourselves here, too. :).
Fandom Journeys - Fan Activity and Online Participation in Harry Potter
An article about Patronus, Half-Blood Prince and Online Experience.
Arriving in Copenhagen, I look just like any other tourist. Clutching a map in one hand and a phrasebook in the other, I venture out onto the sunny streets of the city my fellow Australian, Princess Mary, recently made her home. But I’m not here for the royalty. I’m not here for the architecture. I’m not even here for the history.
I’m here for Harry Potter.
‘Patronus,’ the program reads, ‘An Unofficial Academic Harry Potter Event for Grownups’. My first fan convention.
I’ve never seen so many Hogwarts scarves in my life. I hear accents – Danish, British, American, European and even a few other Australians – and I’m astounded by the array of people here. The oldest fan here is seventy, and since this conference is for ‘grown ups’, and I’m twenty, I’m one of the younger ones. On the first day, I see three ‘I Support Severus Snape’ t-shirts, and spend the afternoon debating the intricacies of plot points with a confirmed Hufflepuff who is knitting ‘Dobby socks’. During the screening of Goblet of Fire, when Minerva McGonagall exclaims ‘Potter is a boy, not a piece of meat!’ someone in the crowd responds: ‘we respectfully disagree!’
I feel at home already.
But how did I get here? In high school, when Potter craze first took over, I actively resisted it. Accepting popular culture would make me just like everyone else, I thought. But this – spending a weekend with a group of people shamelessly carrying wands and wearing Gryffindor knee-socks, listening to lectures on the physics of magic and the noblesse oblige of Lucius Malfoy – this is as far from the mainstream as one can get.
I know how it happened. I saw the movie adaptation of Philosopher’s Stone in pieces, watching covertly over the back of a lounge chair while my sister sat engrossed. I broke my ankle. I spent a week in bed, hardly able to move, and, my interest piqued by the film, picked up the first book. Then the second. Then the third. I was hooked.
Sometime later, I ventured onto the official Warner Bros message boards. I found discussion pages, character roleplaying, and fanfiction. That was just the tip of the iceberg in my discovery of Harry Potter fandom; a vast subculture that many book fans may not even know exists. I embraced all of it, eventually found myself a little spot on LiveJournal, and never looked back.
Day two begins with Danish pastries and a lecture on ‘The Comfort Factor of Harry Potter’. I see some familiar faces in the crowd. Two months ago, I answered a post on a LiveJournal community for fans in London, who were organising a get together in honour of a visiting friend. I didn’t know any of them, but I went anyway. We roamed the city from Covent Garden to Anne Summers, and finished the day with drinks at ‘Snape’s Pub’ – so nicknamed for its gothic interior and cabinets of potions equipment – and when I left, it was with a whole new group of friends. Now, I see two of them again, and it’s as if we’ve known each other for years.
I know that I am not unique. Every fandom fan – whether their love is for Harry Potter or something else entirely – has had a journey, from reading or watching the source material to participating in fan culture, predominately online. Curious about the experiences of others, I put out a call to other fans, asking them how they came to be a part of fandom, what they think they get out of it, and what their favourite moments were.
I think I've been fannish most of my life; I just didn't have the terminology. I obsessed over books/shows, playing out scenarios with siblings/cousins when I could talk them into it; wrote horrid stories swiping plots/universes; and spent hours daydreaming "what if" about fave characters. As I matured, I kept the daydreams, but lost most of the other overt fannish behaviours. I still became engrossed in books/shows/movies, but didn't really have an outlet for my obsession. Once VCRs were available (and I could afford one) it was lots easier to re-watch shows/episodes, but I still didn't know about the fandom.
Discovering online fandom in 1998 was fabulous - these were my people, folks who got it. I was shy, and knew I didn't know anything, so I lurked for years on several mailing lists, reading posts and stories, and exploring new fandoms by following writers. After several years as a lurker, I was lucky enough to stumble across Bindlestitch (a dueSouth list) full of maniacs and rebels, which drew me from hiding and into activity. Those nutjobs also introduced me to LJ in early 2001, which guaranteed I'd never shut up again. (Dine)
Reading fanfiction changed the way I look at new things. I learned to watch TV shows or read books with an eye for what wasn't actually said. I discovered a lot of things that weren't discussed in my Midwestern conservative Christian household growing up, and I learned that what my parents thought was normal wasn't the only thing that was okay. Because I lived in a small rural town, there was nowhere else for me to experience things that were outside a very conservative viewpoint. It helped me make friends with people who lived all over the world. (Beatricepeabody)
The overwhelming sense is one of liberation. Sceptics might suggest that online interaction – and online friendship – can never be as meaningful as the kind founded in real life, but fandomers will often disagree. For a fan, the online offers a compression of geographical space and the chance to find friends from all over the world based on interest. There is often a sense of freedom of identity – a chance to be ‘anyone’ – but this is, in fandom, less about lying about who you are than about exploring sides yourself that you have no outlet for in real life.
I've been privileged to meet so many great people, several of whom I've forged close friendships with, and whom I have taken as friends in my regular life and not just my online life. I would have to say that the very best thing I've gotten from the fandom is the freedom to form friendships outside the basis of geographical constraints. Meeting people who actually share my specific geeky interests has enabled me to really be myself and not have to hold back parts of my personality for fear of shunning. It's a relief, it's a joy, and I'm grateful for my fandom experiences. (Jadarene)
I am, as well. There is a gala event on the Saturday night, followed by a party, and I’ve never felt more comfortable with a group of strangers. “I love this,” says one woman, dressed as Hermione Granger. “These are the only places I can come where people actually think my mass of frizzy hair looks good. Usually I have to tame it down.” Dinner is a ‘great hall’ set-up – candles lining the tables, a buffet, and plenty of wine. Afterward, the party moves outside into the summer night air, and the conversation becomes increasingly raucous as the night goes on. I reflect on the fandom experiences I’ve had while travelling – the day in London, being shown around Dublin by a local who I met through fangirling Rita Skeeter, and watching theatre in London with a fellow Minerva McGonagall fan. None of it would have been possible without the online experience.
My favourite fandom moment was definitely the night of the season two premier of Supernatural. A great number of people on my Friends List had succumbed to the fandom over the summer hiatus, and there was a huge frenzy of excitement building. I spent the day in a state of giddy anticipation so high I was actually getting worn out. Almost everyone I knew was counting down the minutes until the show started. When the show started, I was in several chat rooms with friends and we watched 'together'. Fortunately, the show not only lived up to our expectations but exceeded them. I was in chat almost until dawn, going over and over every nuance of the episode. Re-watching it, laughing, crying. It was fantastic. Even writing about it now I can feel an echo of that shaky, tremory, giddy feeling. We were literally bouncing in our seats and making idiotic, high-pitched noises as we waited and then watched and discussed. It was like being a teenager again. Unselfconscious joy. And sharing it with people I respect and like, that made it even better. (Aeryn Vala)
This is definitely something I identify with. I recall the day Half-Blood Prince was released. I took my sister to a release party in the Blue Mountains, pretending she was the bigger fan. It was the middle of July, freezing cold. I dressed as Sybill Trelawney, which turned out a good idea in the weather. I covered myself in skirts and shawls, wore ridiculous glasses, and predicted people’s untimely dooms with my Inner Eye (and crystal ball) all morning. The event consisted of a ride in a double-decker bus, then a trip on the Zigzag Railway steam train, stopping at such locations as ‘Hogsmeade’ and ‘Azkaban’. There was a magic show, and on the trip back, we were presented with our copies of the book. It was fun, but primarily organised to appeal to children. The real moment came later, after I’d devoured the book, when I ventured back online.
The atmosphere was heady. Fandom had exploded. Everyone had something to say. I sat at the computer and didn’t move for hours, going through the daily fandom newsletters, pages long with links to what people had written, and read everyone’s reactions. Friends came online, we discussed, we argued, we pointed out things that others had missed. We were all reeling from what had been revealed, what had been left unsaid, what we were going to have to wait another two years to find out. Days later, the first pieces of post-HBP fanfiction appeared; people exploring the dynamics of character in a world that had been completely changed overnight.
Steve Vander Ark, the owner and maintainer of the net’s most comprehensive HP site, the Harry Potter Lexicon, gave the speech that opened Patronus at the beginning of the weekend. He said: “We're at a unique moment in history. We don't know how it will end. We are living through this amazing time which no one, no one will ever experience again.”
When Half-Blood Prince was released, I felt that. Anyone who was online in the twenty-four hours after the book was released must have. And there is something about that experience, of not just a group of people discussing a book in their home or out at a café, but of an entire fan base reacting, connecting, discussing. It’s something that can only happen online.
Angela Nicholl
Links
http://featherxquill.livejournal.com - Feather Quill. My Livejournal.
http://www.patronus.dk/2006/ - Patronus 2006
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/index-2.html - The Harry Potter Lexicon
http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_today/2005/07/18/
- Hogwarts Today Newsletter, July 18, 2005.
Many, many thanks to EVERYONE who responded to me. I was quite overwhlemed by everyone's willingness to talk about their fandom experiences, and I wish I could have included more of your words in here. But my teacher had a few very definite ideas about using informtion collected online, so I had to be very selective about which ones worked best with what I was saying. Also, I have no idea how to indent long quotes with html, so please frgive the italics.
Some of you fellow Patronus attendees might recognise yourselves here, too. :).
Fandom Journeys - Fan Activity and Online Participation in Harry Potter
An article about Patronus, Half-Blood Prince and Online Experience.
Arriving in Copenhagen, I look just like any other tourist. Clutching a map in one hand and a phrasebook in the other, I venture out onto the sunny streets of the city my fellow Australian, Princess Mary, recently made her home. But I’m not here for the royalty. I’m not here for the architecture. I’m not even here for the history.
I’m here for Harry Potter.
‘Patronus,’ the program reads, ‘An Unofficial Academic Harry Potter Event for Grownups’. My first fan convention.
I’ve never seen so many Hogwarts scarves in my life. I hear accents – Danish, British, American, European and even a few other Australians – and I’m astounded by the array of people here. The oldest fan here is seventy, and since this conference is for ‘grown ups’, and I’m twenty, I’m one of the younger ones. On the first day, I see three ‘I Support Severus Snape’ t-shirts, and spend the afternoon debating the intricacies of plot points with a confirmed Hufflepuff who is knitting ‘Dobby socks’. During the screening of Goblet of Fire, when Minerva McGonagall exclaims ‘Potter is a boy, not a piece of meat!’ someone in the crowd responds: ‘we respectfully disagree!’
I feel at home already.
But how did I get here? In high school, when Potter craze first took over, I actively resisted it. Accepting popular culture would make me just like everyone else, I thought. But this – spending a weekend with a group of people shamelessly carrying wands and wearing Gryffindor knee-socks, listening to lectures on the physics of magic and the noblesse oblige of Lucius Malfoy – this is as far from the mainstream as one can get.
I know how it happened. I saw the movie adaptation of Philosopher’s Stone in pieces, watching covertly over the back of a lounge chair while my sister sat engrossed. I broke my ankle. I spent a week in bed, hardly able to move, and, my interest piqued by the film, picked up the first book. Then the second. Then the third. I was hooked.
Sometime later, I ventured onto the official Warner Bros message boards. I found discussion pages, character roleplaying, and fanfiction. That was just the tip of the iceberg in my discovery of Harry Potter fandom; a vast subculture that many book fans may not even know exists. I embraced all of it, eventually found myself a little spot on LiveJournal, and never looked back.
Day two begins with Danish pastries and a lecture on ‘The Comfort Factor of Harry Potter’. I see some familiar faces in the crowd. Two months ago, I answered a post on a LiveJournal community for fans in London, who were organising a get together in honour of a visiting friend. I didn’t know any of them, but I went anyway. We roamed the city from Covent Garden to Anne Summers, and finished the day with drinks at ‘Snape’s Pub’ – so nicknamed for its gothic interior and cabinets of potions equipment – and when I left, it was with a whole new group of friends. Now, I see two of them again, and it’s as if we’ve known each other for years.
I know that I am not unique. Every fandom fan – whether their love is for Harry Potter or something else entirely – has had a journey, from reading or watching the source material to participating in fan culture, predominately online. Curious about the experiences of others, I put out a call to other fans, asking them how they came to be a part of fandom, what they think they get out of it, and what their favourite moments were.
I think I've been fannish most of my life; I just didn't have the terminology. I obsessed over books/shows, playing out scenarios with siblings/cousins when I could talk them into it; wrote horrid stories swiping plots/universes; and spent hours daydreaming "what if" about fave characters. As I matured, I kept the daydreams, but lost most of the other overt fannish behaviours. I still became engrossed in books/shows/movies, but didn't really have an outlet for my obsession. Once VCRs were available (and I could afford one) it was lots easier to re-watch shows/episodes, but I still didn't know about the fandom.
Discovering online fandom in 1998 was fabulous - these were my people, folks who got it. I was shy, and knew I didn't know anything, so I lurked for years on several mailing lists, reading posts and stories, and exploring new fandoms by following writers. After several years as a lurker, I was lucky enough to stumble across Bindlestitch (a dueSouth list) full of maniacs and rebels, which drew me from hiding and into activity. Those nutjobs also introduced me to LJ in early 2001, which guaranteed I'd never shut up again. (Dine)
Reading fanfiction changed the way I look at new things. I learned to watch TV shows or read books with an eye for what wasn't actually said. I discovered a lot of things that weren't discussed in my Midwestern conservative Christian household growing up, and I learned that what my parents thought was normal wasn't the only thing that was okay. Because I lived in a small rural town, there was nowhere else for me to experience things that were outside a very conservative viewpoint. It helped me make friends with people who lived all over the world. (Beatricepeabody)
The overwhelming sense is one of liberation. Sceptics might suggest that online interaction – and online friendship – can never be as meaningful as the kind founded in real life, but fandomers will often disagree. For a fan, the online offers a compression of geographical space and the chance to find friends from all over the world based on interest. There is often a sense of freedom of identity – a chance to be ‘anyone’ – but this is, in fandom, less about lying about who you are than about exploring sides yourself that you have no outlet for in real life.
I've been privileged to meet so many great people, several of whom I've forged close friendships with, and whom I have taken as friends in my regular life and not just my online life. I would have to say that the very best thing I've gotten from the fandom is the freedom to form friendships outside the basis of geographical constraints. Meeting people who actually share my specific geeky interests has enabled me to really be myself and not have to hold back parts of my personality for fear of shunning. It's a relief, it's a joy, and I'm grateful for my fandom experiences. (Jadarene)
I am, as well. There is a gala event on the Saturday night, followed by a party, and I’ve never felt more comfortable with a group of strangers. “I love this,” says one woman, dressed as Hermione Granger. “These are the only places I can come where people actually think my mass of frizzy hair looks good. Usually I have to tame it down.” Dinner is a ‘great hall’ set-up – candles lining the tables, a buffet, and plenty of wine. Afterward, the party moves outside into the summer night air, and the conversation becomes increasingly raucous as the night goes on. I reflect on the fandom experiences I’ve had while travelling – the day in London, being shown around Dublin by a local who I met through fangirling Rita Skeeter, and watching theatre in London with a fellow Minerva McGonagall fan. None of it would have been possible without the online experience.
My favourite fandom moment was definitely the night of the season two premier of Supernatural. A great number of people on my Friends List had succumbed to the fandom over the summer hiatus, and there was a huge frenzy of excitement building. I spent the day in a state of giddy anticipation so high I was actually getting worn out. Almost everyone I knew was counting down the minutes until the show started. When the show started, I was in several chat rooms with friends and we watched 'together'. Fortunately, the show not only lived up to our expectations but exceeded them. I was in chat almost until dawn, going over and over every nuance of the episode. Re-watching it, laughing, crying. It was fantastic. Even writing about it now I can feel an echo of that shaky, tremory, giddy feeling. We were literally bouncing in our seats and making idiotic, high-pitched noises as we waited and then watched and discussed. It was like being a teenager again. Unselfconscious joy. And sharing it with people I respect and like, that made it even better. (Aeryn Vala)
This is definitely something I identify with. I recall the day Half-Blood Prince was released. I took my sister to a release party in the Blue Mountains, pretending she was the bigger fan. It was the middle of July, freezing cold. I dressed as Sybill Trelawney, which turned out a good idea in the weather. I covered myself in skirts and shawls, wore ridiculous glasses, and predicted people’s untimely dooms with my Inner Eye (and crystal ball) all morning. The event consisted of a ride in a double-decker bus, then a trip on the Zigzag Railway steam train, stopping at such locations as ‘Hogsmeade’ and ‘Azkaban’. There was a magic show, and on the trip back, we were presented with our copies of the book. It was fun, but primarily organised to appeal to children. The real moment came later, after I’d devoured the book, when I ventured back online.
The atmosphere was heady. Fandom had exploded. Everyone had something to say. I sat at the computer and didn’t move for hours, going through the daily fandom newsletters, pages long with links to what people had written, and read everyone’s reactions. Friends came online, we discussed, we argued, we pointed out things that others had missed. We were all reeling from what had been revealed, what had been left unsaid, what we were going to have to wait another two years to find out. Days later, the first pieces of post-HBP fanfiction appeared; people exploring the dynamics of character in a world that had been completely changed overnight.
Steve Vander Ark, the owner and maintainer of the net’s most comprehensive HP site, the Harry Potter Lexicon, gave the speech that opened Patronus at the beginning of the weekend. He said: “We're at a unique moment in history. We don't know how it will end. We are living through this amazing time which no one, no one will ever experience again.”
When Half-Blood Prince was released, I felt that. Anyone who was online in the twenty-four hours after the book was released must have. And there is something about that experience, of not just a group of people discussing a book in their home or out at a café, but of an entire fan base reacting, connecting, discussing. It’s something that can only happen online.
Angela Nicholl
Links
http://featherxquill.livejournal.com - Feather Quill. My Livejournal.
http://www.patronus.dk/2006/ - Patronus 2006
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/index-2.html - The Harry Potter Lexicon
http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_today/2005/07/18/
- Hogwarts Today Newsletter, July 18, 2005.