Week 3: Comics culture, ethnography, authoethnography
Summary
This week we will continue to explore the topics of comic book culture, fans, and readers while introducing research methods of ethnography and autoethnograpy.
Weekly Learning Objectives
- define fans and list examples of content and culture produced by fans
- explain ways in which fandom emerged as a virtual culture through the use of print media
- discuss the role of conventions and fan publications in the development of fan culture
- summarize the potential conflict between participatory culture and cultural industries.
- define ethnography and autoethnography as qualitative research approaches
- design open-ended interview questions appropriate for fan research
- analyze documentary film as a constructed representation of fandom
- apply autoethnographic principles to the Fan Activity assignment
- evaluate ethical and positional challenges in studying fan communities
Before class: Readings, resources, and tasks
required
- Woo, B. (2021). Asking fans questions: The ethnographic interview. A Fan Studies Primer : Method, Research, Ethics (pp. 97-110). Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.
- Ellis, C., Adams, T. E., & Bochner, A. P. (2011). Autoethnography: An overview. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12(1), Article 10.
- Participate in online discussion on Canvas.
optional
- Woo, B., Beaty, B., & Campbell, M. (2020). Theorizing comic cons. Journal of Fandom Studies 8(1), 9-31. https://doi.org/10.1386/jfs_00007_1
- Hills, M. (2021). Fan studies’ autoethnography: A Method for Self-Learning and Limit-Testing in Neoliberal Times?. A Fan Studies Primer : Method, Research, Ethics (pp. 144-160). Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.
- Pustz, M. (1999). Discovering comic book culture. Comic book culture: Fanboys and true believers. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
In class
- Discussion
- Spurlock, M. (Director). (2012). Comic con episode IV: A fan’s hope. United States: Gravitas Ventures. We will view this film in class.
- Next week