Subject Guide
Helpful URLs
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- Interlibrary LoanNeed a book or article we don't own? Request a copy through Interlibrary Loan borrowing.
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- Using Databases Off GroundsHave questions about accessing databases from off-grounds? Find more information here.
Preparing for Research
This guide was created to help you prepare for your literature review and other research assignments for ENWR 2510 and as a general guide to resources related to fans and fandom.
As part of your Informational Essay, you should have thought some about possible questions to start your research. In addition to identifying a research topic/question, you will also want to spend some time thinking about how you will conduct your research.
- Fine-tune your searches.
Think broadly when brainstorming search terms - what synonyms or related terms could stand in for your key search terms?
You can combine search terms using AND ("Game of Thrones" AND race) and OR (fan OR groupie OR follower).
In many databases, the asterisk (*) is a truncation or "wildcard" symbol that will match all possible endings for a word stem. For example, sex* will match sexism, sexual, sexuality, sexualize, etc.
Most databases have filters or facets that allow you to narrow your results by subject, date range, etc. Limit your searches to help you find the sources you need.
- Think about where you might find the type of information you are seeking.
Will you find the research you need in a book? An article? A newspaper? A documentary? An interview? Cast a wide net when looking for the types of resources that could help answer your research question or support an argument you are making.
- Know the difference between academic and non-academic sources, and when it's appropriate to use them.
Most databases allow you to limit results to academic/scholarly/peer-reviewed sources. Be mindful of your assignment and what you're being asked to provide. Need a refresher? Watch the short video Peer Review in 3 Minutes.
- When you find a good source, use it to find other good sources.
Use the subject terms and keywords associated with an item to find other items on similar topics.
Scholarly books and articles will have works cited, bibliographies, or footnotes you can mine for additional resources.
Need help? Ask a librarian.
Finding articles
Multidisciplinary Databases
Academic Search Complete is a large general database of articles from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers on many topics. Updated daily, it can be the best source for resources about very current topics.
ProQuest offers UVa faculty, staff, and students access to 35 separate databases, covering numerous fields from the hard sciences to social sciences, as well as newspapers, government records, and statistical data.
JSTOR includes older issues of scholarly journals in many disciplines, from the start to 3-5 years ago.
Project Muse Searchable full text of nearly 600 scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics, mostly from North American university presses. Older volumes are often available from JSTOR.
Literature, Television, & Film
MLA International Bibliography (MLAIB) indexes the broadest range of resources about literature in all languages, as well as film, television, and popular culture, including over 4,000 journals as well as books and dissertations. It is not a full-text resource, meaning that you can only search the description of an article, rather than the text of the article. To get the full text of an article, click on “Find article @ UVa Libraries”, or look up the journal title in VIRGO.
Film & Television Literature Index Finds reviews of films and articles on theory, preservation and restoration, writing, production, cinematography, and technical aspects of both film and television in the U.S. and internationally.
Performing Arts Periodicals Database lists articles from scholarly and popular periodicals covering dance, film, television, theater, opera, stagecraft, broadcast arts, storytelling and more.
Music
The Music Periodicals Database indexes scholarly and popular music publications with abstracts and some full-text.
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature includes broad international coverage of journals, books, dissertations, and more, covering all areas of music.
Sports
Sport Discus with Full Text is an international database that covers sports medicine, exercise physiology, coaching, recreation, and more.
Finding books & articles using Virgo
Virgo, the U.Va. Library’s primary search tool, contains catalog records for books, print journals, DVDs, maps, and digitized materials, as well as links to online articles from our rich array of subscription journals. You can search catalog materials and articles together, or view those results separately, using the facets provided to limit your results by author, format, publication period, and more.
Example subject terms:
Possible Ebooks of Interest
A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9781119237167Publication Date: 2018A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies offers scholars and fans an accessible and engaging resource for understanding the rapidly expanding field of fan studies. International in scope and written by a team that includes many major scholars, this volume features over thirty especially-commissioned essays on a variety of topics, which together provide an unparalleled overview of this fast-growing field. Separated into five sections--Histories, Genealogies, Methodologies; Fan Practices; Fandom and Cultural Studies; Digital Fandom; and The Future of Fan Studies--the book synthesizes literature surrounding important theories, debates, and issues within the field of fan studies. It also traces and explains the social, historical, political, commercial, ethical, and creative dimensions of fandom and fan studies. Exploring both the historical and the contemporary fan situation, the volume presents fandom and fan studies as models of 21st century production and consumption, and identifies the emergent trends in this unique field of study.
Fake Geek Girls: Fandom, Gender, and the Convergence Culture Industry by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9781479879571Publication Date: 2019Reveals the systematic marginalization of women within pop culture fan communities When Ghostbusters returned to the screen in 2016, some male fans of the original film boycotted the all-female adaptation of the cult classic, turning to Twitter to express their disapproval and making it clear that they considered the film's "real" fans to be white, straight men. While extreme, these responses are far from unusual, with similar uproars around the female protagonists of the new Star Wars films to full-fledged geek culture wars and harassment campaigns, as exemplified by the #GamerGate controversy that began in 2014. Over the past decade, fan and geek culture has moved from the margins to the mainstream as fans have become tastemakers and promotional partners, with fan art transformed into official merchandise and fan fiction launching new franchises. But this shift has left some people behind. Suzanne Scott points to the ways in which the "men's rights" movement and antifeminist pushback against "social justice warriors" connect to new mainstream fandom, where female casting in geek-nostalgia reboots is vilified and historically feminized forms of fan engagement--like cosplay and fan fiction--are treated as less worthy than male-dominant expressions of fandom like collection, possession, and cataloguing. While this gender bias harkens back to the origins of fandom itself, Fake Geek Girls contends that the current view of women in fandom as either inauthentic masqueraders or unwelcome interlopers has been tacitly endorsed by Hollywood franchises and the viewer demographics they selectively champion. It offers a view into the inner workings of how digital fan culture converges with old media and its biases in new and novel ways.
Fan Cultures by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in Virgo.ISBN: 0415240247Publication Date: 2002Emphasising the contradictions of fandom, Matt Hills outlines how media fans have been conceptualised in cultural theory. Drawing on case studies of specific fan groups, from Elvis impersonators to X-Philes and Trekkers, Hills discusses a range of approaches to fandom, from the Frankfurt School to psychoanalytic readings, and asks whether the development of new media creates the possibility of new forms of fandom. Fan Cultures also explores the notion of "fan cults" or followings, considering how media fans perform the distinctions of 'cult' status.
Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in Virgo (available through HathiTrust emergency access)ISBN: 9780814731819Publication Date: 2007We are all fans. Whether we log on to Web sites to scrutinize the latest plot turns in Lost, "stalk" our favorite celebrities on Gawker, attend gaming conventions, or simply wait with bated breath for the newest Harry Potter novel--each of us is a fan. Fandom extends beyond television and film to literature, opera, sports, and pop music, and encompasses both high and low culture. Fandom brings together leading scholars to examine fans, their practices, and their favorite texts. This unparalleled selection of original essays examines instances across the spectrum of modern cultural consumption from Karl Marx to Paris Hilton, Buffy the Vampire Slayer to backyard wrestling, Bach fugues to Bollywood cinema¸ and nineteenth-century concert halls to computer gaming. Contributors examine fans of high cultural texts and genres, the spaces of fandom, fandom around the globe, the impact of new technologies on fandom, and the legal and historical contexts of fan activity. Fandom is key to understanding modern life in our increasingly mediated and globalized world.
The Fan Fiction Studies Reader by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in Virgo.ISBN: 9781609382278Publication Date: 2014An essential introduction to a rapidly growing field of study, The Fan Fiction Studies Reader gathers in one place the key foundational texts of the fan studies corpus, with a focus on fan fiction. Collected here are important texts by scholars whose groundbreaking work established the field and outlined some of its enduring questions.
Television, Social Media, and Fan Culture by Call Number: Ebook - Acces online using link in VirgoISBN: 9781498506168Publication Date: 2015Television, Social Media, and Fan Culture examines how fans use social media to engage with television programming, characters, and narrative as well as how television uses social media to engage fan cultures. The contributors review the history and impact of social media and television programming; analyze specific programs and the impact of related social media interactions; and scrutinize the past fan culture to anticipate how social media programming will develop in the future. The contributors explore a diverse array of television personalities, shows, media outlets, and fan activities in their analysis, including: Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Paula Deen; Community, Game of Thrones, Duck Dynasty, Toddlers and Tiaras, Talking Dead, Breaking Bad, Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Army Wives, The Newsroom, Doctor Who, Twin Peaks, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; as well as ESPN's TrueHoop Network and Yahoo's Ball Don't Lie; and cosplay.
Understanding Popular Music Culture by Call Number: Read online via HathiTrust - see link in Catalog RecordISBN: 0415419069Publication Date: 2008Written specifically for students, this introductory textbook explores the history and meaning of rock and popular music. Roy Shuker's study provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the production, distribution, consumption and meaning of popular music and examines the difficulties and debates which surround the analysis of popular culture and popular music. This heavily revised and updated third edition includes: new case studies on the iPod, downloading, and copyright the impact of technologies, including on-line delivery and the debates over MP3 and Napster new chapters on music genres, cover songs and the album canon as well as music retail, radio and the charts case studies and lyrics of artists such as Robert Johnson, The Who, Fat Boy Slim and The Spice Girls a comprehensive discography, suggestions for further reading, listening and viewing and a directory of useful websites. With chapter related guides to further reading, listening and viewing, a glossary, and a timeline, this textbook is the ideal introduction for students.
Women Sport Fans: Identification, Participation, Representation by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in Virgo.ISBN: 9781138189270Publication Date: 2017Women worldwide are making their presence felt as sport fans in rapidly increasing numbers. This book makes a distinctive and innovative contribution to the study of sport fandom by exploring the growing visibility and interest in women who follow sport. It presents the latest data on women's sport spectatorship in different regions of the world, posing new theoretical paradigms to study the globalised nature of female sport fandom. This book goes beyond conventional approaches to analysing the practices of women sport fans. By using a critical feminist perspective to investigate cultural conditions and social contexts (including globalisation, digital networked technologies, consumerism, neoliberalism and postfeminism), it brings into view a diversity of women's voices and experiences as sport fans. It sheds new light on the power dynamics of gender, ethnicity and sexuality influencing women's participation in sport spectatorship and interrogates the ways female sport fandom is made visible through transnational media networks.
Possible Print Books of Interest
Everybody Hurts: Transitions, Endings, and Resurrections in Fan Cultures by Call Number: Clemons HM646 .E84 2018ISBN: 1609385632Publication Date: 2018Examining how fans respond to and cope with transitions, endings, or resurrections in everything from band breakups (R.E.M.) to show cancellations (Hannibal) to closing down popular amusement park rides, this collection brings together an eclectic mix of scholars to analyze the various ways fans respond to change. Essays explore practices such as fan discussion and creating alternative fan fictions, as well as cases where fans abandon their objects of interest completely and move on to new ones. Shedding light on how fans react, both individually and as a community, the contributors also trace the commonalities and differences present in fandoms across a range of media, and they pay close attention to the ways fandom operates across paratexts and transmedia forms including films, comics, and television.
Exploiting Fandom: How the Media Industry Seeks to Manipulate Fans by Call Number: Clemons HM646 .S73 2019ISBN: 9781609386238Publication Date: 2019As more and more fans rush online to share their thoughts on their favorite shows or video games, they might feel like the process of providing feedback is empowering. However, as fan studies scholar Mel Stanfill argues, these industry invitations for fan participation indicate not greater fan power but rather greater fan usefulness. Stanfill's argument, controversial to some in the field, compares the "domestication of fandom" to the domestication of livestock, contending that, just as livestock are bred bigger and more docile as they are domesticated, so, too, are fans as the entertainment industry seeks to cultivate a fan base that is both more useful and more controllable. By bringing industry studies and fan studies into the conversation, Stanfill looks closely at just who exactly the industry considers "proper fans" in terms of race, gender, age, and sexuality, and interrogates how digital media have influenced consumption, ultimately finding that the invitation to participate is really an incitement to consume in circumscribed, industry-useful ways.
Fans: The Mirror of Consumption by Call Number: Clemons HM646 .S24 2005ISBN: 0745629733Publication Date: 2005In Fans: The Mirror of Consumption, Cornel Sandvoss explores the social, cultural, and psychological premises and consequences of fan consumption. The scope of the book is impressive. He looks not just at the nature and development of whole fan cultures,but also focuses on the experience and identity of the individual fan. In addition, the book proposes a new perspective on fans and popular culture, arguing that the modern self is reflected and constituted through media consumption. In developing his account, Sandvoss draws on theoretical ideas in an original yet accessible way, and uses a wide range of examples, from Star Trek to Madonna to football, to illustrate his argument.
Fractured Fandoms: Contentious Communication in Fan Communities by Call Number: Clemons HM646 .R6253 2018ISBN: 9781498552561Publication Date: 2018Being a fan helps people to discover their identities, find friends, develop a sense of belonging, express themselves creatively, and act as powerful creators and participants in a capitalistic system. At times, however, being a fan becomes problematic, especially when clashes with other fans occur both inside and outside of their fandoms and fan communities. As their communication becomes contentious, power imbalances destabilize collectives and fans experience fear, sadness, pain, and harassment. Such problematic situations can become "fractured fandoms." Fractured Fandoms: Contentious Communication in Fan Communities observes the problems or fractures that occur within and between fandoms as fans and fan communities experience differences in interpretation, opinion, expectation, and behavior regarding the object at the center of their fandom. The book demonstrates the fractures through an examination of self-interviews, collected news stories, and previous research regarding these problems, ultimately providing an assessment of the causes and effects of such fractures and the larger social and cultural issues they reflect.
Squee from the Margin by Call Number: Clemons PN3377.5 .F33 P36 2018ISBN: 1609386183Publication Date: 2018Rukmini Pande's examination of race in fan studies is sure to make an immediate contribution to the growing field. Until now, virtually no sustained examination of race and racism in transnational fan cultures has taken place, a lack that is especially concerning given that current fan spaces have never been more vocal about debating issues of privilege and discrimination.
