Fandom Research

Most artists are brought to their vocation when their own nascent gifts are awakened by the work of a master. That is to say, most artists are converted to art by art itself. Finding one’s voice isn’t just an emptying and purifying oneself of the words of others but an adopting and embracing of filiations, communities, and discourses. 

–Jonathan Lethem, The ecstasy of influence: a plagiarism

FandomResearch.org is a clearing-house for surveys, questionnaires, theses, dissertations, and other research pertinent to the active field of fandom studies. It is the brainchild of Lisa Drummond, Ph.D. and Madeline Ashby, graduate student, aca-fan, and science fiction writer.

In 2008, both women discovered a shared love of fansubbed media — Ms. Ashby of Japanese anime, Dr. Drummond of Korean dramas. At this time, Ms. Ashby was writing her M.A. thesis on anime, fandom, and cyborg culture, as well as earning her graduate diploma in Asian Studies. So in 2009 when Dr. Drummond decided to extend her expertise on urban space to cyberspace and begin her first foray into the world of fan studies, she asked Ms. Ashby as her research assistant.

Now, FandomResearch.org is the product of collaboration from Toronto to Hanoi, with the intent of serving a global community of fans and researchers sharing their goals and methods. Too often, our fellow aca-fans don’t know who is studying what at what time or to what end. FandomResearch.org means to change that, by making both studies and contact information available to both sides of the aca-fan equation: fans can find projects to participate in, and researchers can quickly search for similar projects and like-minded colleagues. In the end, this will help researchers save time by giving them the opportunity to refine and diversify their projects, diminishing redundant research and creating a space for everyone involved to continue “adopting and embracing” more “filiations, communities, and discourses.”

HOW TO USE

If you have a fan studies-related survey, gathering, questionnaire, documentary, call for papers, Twitter feed, website, Facebook group, or other bloggable item, comment below. We will contact you, and post your CFP/questionnaire/etc. along with your contact information, so that fans and academics alike can get into contact with you. This may not automatically drive your research stats — you might not get more participants, but your study will be logged for others to recognize. Even if your research isn’t successful or isn’t published, you will still have contributed to the fund of knowledge (even if it’s knowledge about what hasn’t worked in the past).

This contribution to the fund of knowledge means that we also welcome information on previous studies, or guest posts from both fans and researchers about research methodology and prior experiences “in the field,” as it were. Did you fail big while handing out surveys at your last con? Was some researcher a total gaijin who ogled your cosplay? Tell us. The only way the field will improve is if we all work together, sharing information and recommending helpful strategies and inspiring stories — you know, like in fandom?