What is fandom. The meaning of the word "fandom"

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Probably there are few people left these days who don't know what a fandom is. Everyone who leads an active life on the Internet and communicates on forums, as a rule, is a member of a community of interest and thus supports this interesting phenomenon, which has been developing especially actively lately. Let's once again talk about fandoms and what still unites people within them.

Fandom Definition

What is a fandom, you can understand if you think about the fans, the fans surrounding any celebrity. They, as a rule, create their own community dedicated to the idol, which is now commonly called a fandom. Such groups gather not only around famous actors, singers or athletes, but a common hobby or some kind of interest can also unite people.

But most often fandoms arise around movies, television series and video games. Obviously, this is due to the fact that the possibility of the emergence of something new, causing interest and leading tothe excitement in this area is very high, and, in addition, the commercial emergence of new successful projects here is directly related to the number and frequency of appearance of fans.

How to become a fandom member

In order to become a member of any fandom, it is not enough just to get involved in some topic. It is imperative to participate in the exchange of information - this, one might say, is the quintessence of the existence of a fan community. Nowadays, such exchange takes place mainly via the Internet, but there are also many classical forms - interest clubs, thematic periodicals, congresses of various ranks (from regional to international), etc.

Special fandom names help identify fandoms. For example, fans of anime and manga are called otaku, fans of the Star Trek series are called trekkers, fans of Doctor Who are called Hoovians, and Tolkienists, as the name probably implies, are fans of the work of J. R. R. Tolkien. The fandom of the Supernatural series has a somewhat ironic name - supermistressed, singer Justin Bieber's fandoms are Beliebers, and Miley Cyrus's are smilers.

Like every subcultural movement, any fandom is unique in its own way, it develops its own customs over time, has its own structure, and slang appears, often understandable only to members of this community.

Fandom ribbons

In order to mark their belonging to a particular community, members of fandoms wear colored ribbons on their hands, because they have long beenwere a way to express the bearer's attitude towards some social movement or issue.

So, for example, blue is popular with twitterers, blue is worn by Hoovians (Doctor Who), orange is worn by bangers (The Big Bang Theory), yellow is popular with Supernatural fans, silver is chosen by fans Wolf cub, and emerald green - slashers. Rockers prefer red.

Of course, it is impossible to list all types of ribbons here, but everyone who joins the fan community will immediately know about the chosen color and will wear a ribbon as a sign of their belonging to the "chosen ones".

Communities of information keepers

The fandom phenomenon is hard to overestimate. What is fandom? This, as mentioned above, is primarily an exchange of information. But it is she who will become priceless over time, and unique details about the creation of the film, about a forgotten musical genre or about the technical features of a retro car will get to the descendants. Thanks to the fans, all this is constantly kept afloat and carefully preserved.

In addition, we must not forget that fans are the same target audience that producers diligently study before presenting another of their megaprojects to the public. By the way, this applies to any commercial project, because only the presence of enthusiastic fans can create a brand that is truly profitable.

Origin of the term "fandom"

By the way, the meaning of the word "fandom" in the narrow sense wasthe name of the community of fans of the fantastic genre and arose in the thirties of the last century.

In the USA at that time, the so-called amateur postal associations were created, which included adherents of various topics, about which they exchanged letters. In 1934, on this basis, the Science Fiction League arose, which became the first official fandom. By the way, this League has nurtured talented science fiction writers: Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Judith Merrill, Frederick Pohl and many others whose names have gone down in history. This included famous scholars of the science fiction genre: Forrest J. Ackerman, Sam Moskowitz and others.

The movement became very popular, and since 1939, world conventions began to be held among fans of science fiction.

How fandoms developed in Russia

During the Khrushchev thaw and in the USSR, the first groups uniting science fiction lovers appeared. At this time, this genre is becoming very popular. Although what a fandom is, adherents of the genre hardly understood at that time. They simply created clubs of fantasy lovers (CLF) at libraries or houses of culture, where they held discussions of new books and meetings with authors.

In the early 1980s, this movement took on a special dimension, and within its framework, science fiction festivals called "Aelita" began to be held annually. And now fandoms unite not only fans of the same genre.

What is the difference between subculture and fandom

Fanaticism and various hobbies that become meaning andway of life for a group of people, by the way, over time, they can develop into subcultures. Such a metamorphosis occurred at one time with punk rock, with gothic music and with furry art.

Although more often than not, fandoms never grow into a subculture. They are hindered by focusing on one object of adoration or interest. And a subculture is a movement that does not depend on individuals, since in it one ideologist (object of worship) is always replaced by another.

The best fandom in Runet

Determining the best of the fandoms is very difficult. After all, for every person passionate about any topic, it is his fandom that is the best, regardless of how many members it has. The main thing for fans is the opportunity to talk about their favorite topic, exchange information, and just meet like-minded people virtually or in real. After all, it is very important to know that you are not alone!

Users in Runet, determining which fandom is better, proceed, of course, from attendance. They refer to the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Sherlock, Harry Potter, and Doctor Who communities as such. But one can argue with these conclusions, because no one really monitors the number of adherents of the topic.