Journals and Research Projects by Katherine Larsen
Journal of Fandom Studies
Editor
Participations
Editorial Board
Participate in the World Hobbit Project
On December 1 this year, the final film in the Hobbit trilogy premiered, and is now being releas... more On December 1 this year, the final film in the Hobbit trilogy premiered, and is now being released around the world. On the same day, the most ambitious research project ever undertaken into film audiences also launched. Researchers in 46 countries will be collaborating to seek responses to a survey that will be capturing those responses in more than 30 languages.
We will be probing how people watch (and like to watch) a film of this kind, and what else they do in connection with watching it (reading the book, taking part in online discussions, following particular stars, etc.). Crucially, the survey is designed on the principle of linked quantitative and qualitative questions.
More information can be found at the World Hobbit Project
We will be probing how people watch (and like to watch) a film of this kind, and what else they do in connection with watching it (reading the book, taking part in online discussions, following particular stars, etc.). Crucially, the survey is designed on the principle of linked quantitative and qualitative questions.
More information can be found at the World Hobbit Project
Books by Katherine Larsen
World Film Locations: Washington D.C.
Freedom and democracy. Bills and laws. Bureaucracy and red tape. Washington, DC, the capital of t... more Freedom and democracy. Bills and laws. Bureaucracy and red tape. Washington, DC, the capital of the United States, is known for many things, mostof them related to the inner workings of the government. But it is also a city of carefully planned parks, trees exploding with cherry blossoms in spring, and bright sunshine polishing the gleaming white of stately memorials. With no shortage of iconic American landscapes, such as the vast National Mall; buildings, from the White House and the Capitol to the Watergate Hotel and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; and monuments, including the Washington Monument and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, it is at once synonymous with the country it governs and a world apart.
This friction animates and attracts filmmakers, who use the District's landmarks as a shorthand to express and investigate contemporary ideals and concerns about American society. Films set there both celebrate and castigate the grand American experiment it symbolizes. From Frank Capra’s 1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to the alien invasion blockbuster Independence Day, films set in Washington depict our most ardent hopes and bring to life our darkest fears.
World Film Locations: Washington, D.C., collects essays and articles about Washington film history and locations. Featuring explorations of carefully chosen film scenes and key historical periods, the book examines themes, directors, and depictions and is illustrated with evocative movie stills, city maps, and location photographs. Taken as a whole, this is essential reading for any cinephile who has ever wondered how a bill becomes a law.
This friction animates and attracts filmmakers, who use the District's landmarks as a shorthand to express and investigate contemporary ideals and concerns about American society. Films set there both celebrate and castigate the grand American experiment it symbolizes. From Frank Capra’s 1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to the alien invasion blockbuster Independence Day, films set in Washington depict our most ardent hopes and bring to life our darkest fears.
World Film Locations: Washington, D.C., collects essays and articles about Washington film history and locations. Featuring explorations of carefully chosen film scenes and key historical periods, the book examines themes, directors, and depictions and is illustrated with evocative movie stills, city maps, and location photographs. Taken as a whole, this is essential reading for any cinephile who has ever wondered how a bill becomes a law.
Fan Phenomenon: Supernatural
Supernatural premiered on September 14, 2005, on what was then called the WB Network. Creator Eri... more Supernatural premiered on September 14, 2005, on what was then called the WB Network. Creator Eric Kripke was inspired by Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, putting his heroes, brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, in a big black ’67 Impala and sending them in search of the urban legends that fascinated him. The series attracted a passionate fan base from the start and was described as a “cultural attractor” that tapped into the zeitgeist of the moment, reflecting global fears of terrorism with its themes of fighting unseen evil. The chemistry between the lead actors, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, contributed to the show’s initial success, and Supernatural found its niche when it combined demon-hunting adventures with a powerful relationship drama that explored the intense, complicated bond between the brothers. Supernatural is as much a story of familial ties, love, and loyalty as it is of “saving people, hunting things.”
Fangasm
Once upon a time not long ago, two responsible college professors, Lynn the psychologist and Kath... more Once upon a time not long ago, two responsible college professors, Lynn the psychologist and Kathy the literary scholar, fell in love with the television show Supernatural and turned their oh-so-practical lives upside down. Plunging headlong into the hidden realms of fandom, they scoured the Internet for pictures of stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki and secretly penned racy fan fiction. And then they hit the road—crisscrossing the country, racking up frequent flyer miles with alarming ease, standing in convention lines at 4 A.M.
They had white-knuckled encounters with overly zealous security guards one year and smiling invitations to the Supernatural set the next. Actors stripping in their trailers, fangirls sneaking onto film sets; drunken confessions, squeals of joy, tears of despair; wallets emptied and responsibilities left behind; intrigue and ecstasy and crushing disappointment—it’s all here.
And yet even as they reveled in their fandom, the authors were asking themselves whether it’s okay to be a fan, especially for grown women with careers and kids. “Crazystalkerchicks”—that’s what they heard from Supernatural crew members, security guards, airport immigration officials, even sometimes their fellow fans. But what Kathy and Lynn found was that most fans were very much like themselves: smart, capable women looking for something of their own that engages their brains and their libidos.
Fangasm pulls back the curtain on the secret worlds of fans and famous alike, revealing Supernatural behind the scenes and discovering just how much the cast and crew know about what the fans are up to. Anyone who’s been tempted to throw off the constraints of respectability and indulge a secret passion—or hit the road with a best friend—will want to come along.
They had white-knuckled encounters with overly zealous security guards one year and smiling invitations to the Supernatural set the next. Actors stripping in their trailers, fangirls sneaking onto film sets; drunken confessions, squeals of joy, tears of despair; wallets emptied and responsibilities left behind; intrigue and ecstasy and crushing disappointment—it’s all here.
And yet even as they reveled in their fandom, the authors were asking themselves whether it’s okay to be a fan, especially for grown women with careers and kids. “Crazystalkerchicks”—that’s what they heard from Supernatural crew members, security guards, airport immigration officials, even sometimes their fellow fans. But what Kathy and Lynn found was that most fans were very much like themselves: smart, capable women looking for something of their own that engages their brains and their libidos.
Fangasm pulls back the curtain on the secret worlds of fans and famous alike, revealing Supernatural behind the scenes and discovering just how much the cast and crew know about what the fans are up to. Anyone who’s been tempted to throw off the constraints of respectability and indulge a secret passion—or hit the road with a best friend—will want to come along.
Fan Culture: Theory/Practice
Fan Culture: Theory/Practice brings together the most current scholarship on fan studies, in a wa... more Fan Culture: Theory/Practice brings together the most current scholarship on fan studies, in a way that makes it accessible and usable for both students and teachers. The essays in this collection explore the relative influence of academic and fan perspectives in the current group of scholar-fans and the ethical dilemmas that sometimes emerge from this interplay of identities, the impact of the increasingly reciprocal relationship between textual producers and consumers, and gender differences in fannish meaning-making and interaction. Fan Studies addresses these current issues through some of the most popular fannish texts, including Doctor Who, Torchwood, Star Wars, Star Trek, Supernatural, Smallville and Twilight.
Fan Culture: Theory/Practice is thus designed to challenge some accepted notions, while asking relevant questions about pedagogy. How do we understand the state of the field, and teach fan studies both effectively and responsibly? The essays contained in this volume explore the dominant themes in the field, and seek to situate fan studies as a discipline with a pedagogy of its own.
Fan Culture: Theory/Practice is thus designed to challenge some accepted notions, while asking relevant questions about pedagogy. How do we understand the state of the field, and teach fan studies both effectively and responsibly? The essays contained in this volume explore the dominant themes in the field, and seek to situate fan studies as a discipline with a pedagogy of its own.
Fandom at the Crossroads: Celebration, Shame, and Fan/Producer Relationships
Fandom At The Crossroads: Celebration, Shame and Fan/Producer Relationships is an in-depth explor... more Fandom At The Crossroads: Celebration, Shame and Fan/Producer Relationships is an in-depth exploration of the reciprocal relationship between a groundbreaking cult television show and its equally groundbreaking fandom. For the past six years the authors have inhabited the close-knit fan communities of the television show Supernatural, engaging in criticism and celebration, reading and writing fanfiction, and attending fan conventions. Their close relationships within the community allow an intimate behind-the-scenes examination of fan psychology, passion, motivation, and shame. The authors also speak directly to the creative side in order to understand what fuels the passionate reciprocal relationship Supernatural has with its fans, and to interrogate the reality of fans fears and shame. As they go behind the scenes and onto the sets to talk with Supernatural's showrunners, writers, and actors, the authors struggle to negotiate a hybrid identity as 'aca-fans'. Fangirls one moment, 'legitimate' researchers the next, the boundaries often blur. Their repeated breaking of the fan/creative side boundary is mirrored in Supernatural s reputation for fourth wall breaking, which has attracted journalistic coverage everywhere from Entertainment Weekly to the New York Times. Written with humor and irreverence, Fandom at the Crossroads combines an innovative theorizing of fandom and popular culture, which will be useful in a variety of courses, with a behind-the-scenes story that anyone who has ever been a fan or wondered why others are fans will find fascinating.
Chapters by Katherine Larsen
We See You (Sort of): Representations of Fans on Supernatural
In Seeing Fans: Representations of Fandom in Media and Popular Culture. Eds Lucy Bennett and Paul... more In Seeing Fans: Representations of Fandom in Media and Popular Culture. Eds Lucy Bennett and Paul Booth. Bloomsbury (2016)
"(Re)Claiming Harry Potter Fan Pilgrimage Sites"
In Playing Harry Potter, Edited by Lisa Brenner. McFarland (2015)
Talks by Katherine Larsen
Fangirls and Fourth Walls: Whose Text is it Anyway?
Fan writers like to imagine the breaking of the fourth wall on their own terms, often writing st... more Fan writers like to imagine the breaking of the fourth wall on their own terms, often writing stories in which fans themselves figure as characters. However, these same fans take exception to TPTB doing the same. When Supernatural creator Eric Kripke wrote fangirls into *his* text (as fangirls have been writing his characters into their own texts) fans were variously amused, appalled and ashamed. This paper examines the clash between creators and fans over control of the text and fangirl horror over being written into the very texts they "poach".
"Of Mary Sues and Misogyny"
Abstract –I examine the intersection of misogyny and a practice in female fan communities previou... more Abstract –I examine the intersection of misogyny and a practice in female fan communities previously held to be empowering. By looking at the transformation within the <i>Supernatural</i> fandom of the Mary Sue/self-insertion sub-genre of fanfiction, I argue against those who would see these stories as empowering either reader or writer. I assert these stories re-establish male hegemony and serve to erase women from the picture entirely, even where women figure prominently (in the traditional manner of Mary Sues). I also address the apparent paradox of this writing emerging from a fan community quick to criticize the source material for its perceived abuse of women while at the same time almost universally opposed to the introduction of regularly occurring female characters, arguably the canon version of Mary Sues. I conclude with an analysis of the only acceptable form of Mary Sue in the Supernatural fandom, that which casts the fans themselves as strong, positive role models, and I suggest that we must re-evaluate the theories we have been too comfortable, and perhaps even smug, in applying to fan practices.
Links by Katherine Larsen
Fan Pilgrimage and Media Tourism
Papers by Katherine Larsen
World film locations, Washington D.C
Freedom and democracy. Bills and laws. Bureaucracy and red tape. Washington, D.C., the capital of... more Freedom and democracy. Bills and laws. Bureaucracy and red tape. Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is known for many things, many of them related to the inner-workings of the government that transpires there. But the beauty of the city is often in stark contrast to the ugly partisan squabbles and palm greasing that sometimes characterizes the political process. It is also a city of carefully planned parks, trees exploding with cherry blossoms in spring, and bright sunshine polishing the gleaming white of stately memorials. With no shortage of iconic American landscapes, such as the vast National Mall, buildings, from the White House and the Capitol to the Watergate Hotel and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and monuments including the Washington Monument and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, it is at once synonymous with the country it governs and totally a world apart. This centrality and antithetical otherness is nowhere better understood than in the anxi...
Make Space for Us! Fandom in the Real World
A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies
‘Taking Stock’
The Journal of Fandom Studies, 2015
Fan Culture: Theory/Practice
Fan Culture: Theory/Practice brings together the most current scholarship on fan studies, in a wa... more Fan Culture: Theory/Practice brings together the most current scholarship on fan studies, in a way that makes it accessible and usable for both students and teachers. The essays in this collection explore the relative influence of academic and fan perspectives in the current group of scholar-fans and the ethical dilemmas that sometimes emerge from this interplay of identities, the impact of the increasingly reciprocal relationship between textual producers and consumers, and gender differences in fannish meaning-making and interaction. Fan Studies addresses these current issues through some of the most popular fannish texts, including Doctor Who, Torchwood, Star Wars, Star Trek, Supernatural, Smallville and Twilight. Fan Culture: Theory/Practice is thus designed to challenge some accepted notions, while asking relevant questions about pedagogy. How do we understand the state of the field, and teach fan studies both effectively and responsibly? The essays contained in this volume exp...
Don’t Try This at Home, Boys and Girls
A Fan Studies Primer