Teenagers, Fandom and Identity

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/ps2017vol3no2art648

Keywords:

fans, community, adolescence, subjectivity, intimacy, identity, individual

Abstract

This paper analyses collective and individual identity construction processes in adolescent fan communities mediated by multimodal discourse. The theoretical framework relies on Jenkins, Itō, and Boyd (2015), Holland and Lave (2009), and Marshall, Moore, and Barbour (2015). Our approach is rooted in participant observation and supported by ethnographic work with teenage girls who belong to music communities built around One Direction, Justin Bieber, and Magcon. Firstly, we will show how participating in communities of practice such as through undertaking tasks which give meaning to group activities contributes to the construction of a social and cultural identity supported by the interpretation, production, and dissemination of texts. Secondly, we will examine how subjective and personal identities related to feelings, emotions, and situations are supported by the fan community, which is organised around the celebrity’s public persona.

     

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Author Biographies

  • Pilar Lacasa, University of Alcalá, Spain

    Full Professor of Audiovisual Communication. Children and new media, University of Alcalá. 
    A researcher at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Alcalá, she coordinates the Culture, Technology and New Literacies Research Group since 1998. She loves video games, new emerging communication technologies, and classic European and American movies. Her research work has been developed from a socio-cultural approach. She has been a visiting at the Comparative Media Studies program (MIT), the University of Southern California, Annenberg Innovation Lab. Currently, she’s a visiting researcher at the Digital Ethnography Research Centre (RMIT, Melbourne). Pilar is the author of Learning in virtual and real worlds (2013) edited by Palgrave (including a Henry Jenkins’ Foreword).

  • Julián de la Fuente, University of Alcalá, Spain

    Associate Professor Audiovisual Communicacion, Media Producer.
    He holds a B.A. in History and a B.A. in Communication Studies. Working as an independent producer and director since 2002, he has made all kinds of audiovisual materials such as ads, reports, and music clips. He has also created holographic facilities, 3D projections, and interactive apps. He has several publications on film and history and has conducted several outreach projects for film heritage. He currently teaches at the European University, Madrid, and the University of Alcalá.

  • María Ruth García-Pernía, University of Alcalá, Spain

    Assistant Professor Audiovisual Communication, Children and New Media - Ethics.
    Ph.D. in Psychological Development, Learning, and Education. María’s  interest focuses on analyzing the role played by communication tools, which are quickly transforming society, in the life of children and youngsters. She works on developed innovative methodological approaches to different issues and researches the role of new technologies and video games as cultural and communication tools. She has been a visiting scholar at the University of Oslo and Utrecht University. In addition to this, she coordinates Communication students’ audiovisual reports for the Digital Journal of the University of Alcalá.

  • Sara Cortés, University of Alcalá, Spain

    Assistant Professor Audiovisual Communication, Children and New Media - Education.
    Ph.D. in Psychological Development, Learning, and Education. Sara is interested in the role of new technologies and video games as cultural tools aimed to develop new literacies in a global world. The main lines are focused on analyzing the creation of new educational spaces where new technologies become literacy practices and the construction of one’s identity when children and youngsters play with video games or use social media. She has been a visiting scholar at LCMI (University of Luxembourg and GLS at the University of Madison. In addition to this, she works as coordinator and web designer of http://www.aprendeyjuegaconea.com.

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Published

2017-12-13

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2017)

Section

Open Submission Articles

License

Copyright Notice. 

How to Cite

Teenagers, Fandom and Identity. (2017). Persona Studies, 3(2), 51-65. https://doi.org/10.21153/ps2017vol3no2art648
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