Class, capital and collecting in media fandom

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

    Abstract

    This chapter focuses on the importance of class, distinction, and subcultural capital in the formation of fan identity and fan communities. It argue that to be a collector is to be a fan, and to be a fan is to build a collection of personalized and valuable objects that underline the importance of economic capital and social hierarchies within a fan community. The chapter outlines some of the key approaches to understanding fan capital and distinction, and summarizes the key characteristics of class in relation to collecting within media fandom. For many scholars of popular culture, the media offers a constant site of struggle between the powerful and powerless—those who determine what gets made and circulated as compared to those who are meant to consume and willingly accept. Collecting objects, keeping them, organizing them, and displaying them are by its very nature about the process of distinction and accruing capital: both economic and cultural.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationRoutledge Companion to Media Fandom
    EditorsMelissa Click, Suzanne Scott
    Place of PublicationNew York
    PublisherRoutledge
    Pages212-220
    Number of pages9
    ISBN (Electronic)9781315637518
    ISBN (Print)9781138638921, 9780367528065
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 9 Nov 2017

    Publication series

    NameRoutledge Media and Cultural Studies Companions
    PublisherRoutledge

    Keywords

    • Star Wars
    • collecting
    • capital
    • class

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