Description
The twentieth anniversary edition of Henry Jenkins's Textual Poachers brings this now-canonical text to a new generation of students interested in the intersections of fandom, participatory culture, popular consumption and media theory. Supplementing the original, classic text is an interview between Henry Jenkins and Suzanne Scott in which Jenkins reflects upon changes in the field since the original release of Textual Poachers. A study guide by Louisa Stein helps provides instructors with suggestions for the way Textual Poachers can be used in the contemporary classroom, and study questions encourage students to consider fan cultures in relation to consumer capitalism, genre, gender, sexuality, and more.
Publication
Routledge (1992), Edition: 1, 352 pages
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User reviews
LibraryThing member lycomayflower
A media studies exploration of television fandom from the early nineties. One of the best studies on the subject, at least partly because Jenkins considers himself a fan of the type he's discussing (too many critical discussions of fandom treat fans as weird or strange and their work suffers for
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it--there is, for instance, a section on slash fan fiction in F*gs, Hags and Queer Sisters: Gender Dissent and Heterosocial Bonds in Gay Culture which, in its contempt for or misunderstanding of the subject, contains errors in its literary analysis which no undergrad English student would stand for). Jenkins spends a lot of time discussing who television fans are, what they do, and how their participation in fannish activities affect them. Overall, it's a positive study which provides a lot of insight, even if (or maybe especially if) you're a fan yourself. The missing last half-star reflects the fact that parts of the study read as very dated--being published in 1992, it predates the explosion of fan-related activity on the internet and (obviously) doesn't discuss many of the staples of recent fan-focus (Harry Potter, Jackson's Lord of the Rings, the second Star Wars trilogy, the new Doctor Who, nearly half of the installments in the Star Trek franchise). Show Less
LibraryThing member aulsmith
The basic information in this book is excellent. The problem is the thesis. Jenkins portrays fans as poachers on the intellectual property of others, and gives the impression that in order to have fan activity, you must have commercial popular media. However, it is clear from any reading of the
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Western canon, that "poaching" on the stories of the culture is the basis for most of our art. Chaucer and Shakespeare were constantly using other sources and refining the stories to make them better. Only the introduction of copyright laws and near universal literacy in the last two centuries makes fan activity any different from previous literary activity. Until popular culture studies gets away from the notion that the commercial text has more legitimacy than derivative works, a real understanding of fan activity is nearly impossible. Show Less
LibraryThing member elwyne
This is an excellent book. Intelligent, thoughtful, well-written, by someone who knows his stuff. Yes it's dated; I would absolutely love to see an update for the YouTube world.
I have only recently entered the world of fandom; I've always known about Trekkies and the like but only recently begun to
In all, a fascinating read, particularly as person who identifies as a fan, but I think also useful for anyone who wants to understand fandom and what makes these people tick. I think non-fan readers will be surprised and impressed.
I have only recently entered the world of fandom; I've always known about Trekkies and the like but only recently begun to
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share and understand their actual experience. This book provides insight into that world; who these people are, what they do, what inspires them, what they're committed to. I felt like I was meeting my community. It's amazing and fascinating to know what's out there. It's especially fascinating to see what people accomplished before the Internet made communication so fast and easy, before DVDs and software put editing capabilities in everyone's home. You had to be committed to be a fan creator back in the day.In all, a fascinating read, particularly as person who identifies as a fan, but I think also useful for anyone who wants to understand fandom and what makes these people tick. I think non-fan readers will be surprised and impressed.
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ISBN
0415905729 / 9780415905725