For the year 2021-2022, Henry Jenkins, the Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts and Education at the University of Southern California and a known figure in the field of fan studies, decided to lend his blog to fan studies scholars from all over the world: the Global Fandom Jamboree. Dr. Simone Driessen (Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC)) was invited to represent the Netherlands in this initiative.
Henry Jenkins invited scholars to describe the concept of fan studies, what it means to be a fan, what fan research entails in a national context, and how that relates to fan studies in another country. Simone was coupled up with a Brazilian researcher named Aianne Aimado. Together, they exchanged thoughts through various blogs.
“Dutch music fandom is influenced by the process of globalization”, Simone poses in her first article. She describes how the fandom process is influenced, for instance, by the Dutch tendency to broadcast shows in their original language and people’s presence in international fan communities such as forums.
In her response, Aianne says she was fascinated to spot so many resemblances between the Dutch and the Brazilian fan cultures. A conversation follows on the role of colonisation and its remnants, and of language in the shaping of fan contexts – amongst other intriguing mechanisms.
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Read Simone Driessen’s initial article on Henry Jenkin’s blog.
Read part one of the interaction between Simone and Aianne.
Read part two of the interaction between Simone and Aianne.