Fan Cultures (Sussex Studies in Culture and Communication)

Fans are one of the most widely-studied groups of media consumers. Often knowing more about a character or series than the star or program-makers themselves, and ready to make active, sometimes surprising readings of plot lines and characters, they are the ultimate active audience.

Fan Cultures is the first comprehensive overview of fans and fan theory. Emphasising the contradictions of fandom, Matt Hills outlines the ways in which fans have been conceptualised in cultural theory and challenges many of these established paradigms. Hills draws on case studies of specific groups, such as Elvis impersonators, X-Philes and Trekkers, and discusses a range of approaches to fandom. Taking all of this into account, he ultimately questions whether the development of new media creates the possibility of new forms of fandom and explores the significance of the term 'cult' for media fans.

Matt Hills is Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. He is co-editor of Intensities: The Journal Of Cult Media (http://intensities.org/).