Fan Cultures

Fans are one of the most widely-studied groups of media consumers. Often knowing more about a character or TV series than the stars or programme-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. Emphasising the contradictions of fandom, Matt Hills outlines the ways in which fans have been conceptualised in cultural history and he challenges many of these established paradigms. Hills draws on case studies of specific groups, such as Elvis impersonators, X-Philes and Trekkers, and discusses 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.Hills, Matthew is the author of 'Fan Cultures', published 2002 under ISBN 9780415240253 and ISBN 0415240255.