Another item from my inbox

[vilakins]

Amazon UK has recced me a book based, I assume, on my purchase a while back of Sheenagh Pugh's The Democratic Genre (which I would highly recommend to anyone interested in fan fiction). As postage will cost more than the book for me, I won't be buying it, but I thought it might interest some of you.

It's Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Essays on Participatory Culture by Henry Jenkins. Here's the synopsis:

Henry Jenkins's pioneering work in the early 1990s promoted the idea that fans are among the most active, creative, critically engaged, and socially connected consumers of popular culture, and that they represented the vanguard of a new relationship with mass media. Though largely invisible to the general public at the time, today, media producers and advertisers, not to mention researchers and fans, take for granted the idea that the success of a media franchise depends on fan investments and participation. Bringing together the highlights of a decade and a half of ground-breaking research into the cultural life of media consumers, "Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers" takes readers from Jenkins's progressive early work defending fan culture against those who would marginalize or stigmatize it, through to his more recent work, combating moral panic and defending Goths and gamers in the wake of the Columbine shootings. Starting with an interview on the current state of fan studies, this volume maps the core theoretical and methodological issues in Fan Studies. It goes on to chart the growth of participatory culture on the web, discuss blogging as perhaps the most powerful illustration of how consumer participation impacts mainstream media, and debate the public policy implications surrounding participation and intellectual property.

[Edit] Jenkins has a blog which has a feed on LJ: h_jenkins_blog

Comments

[hafren.livejournal.com]

Once they think they have you pegged, they tend to make recs some of which make a lot more sense than others:) I've had some good ones and some "why do you imagine I'd read THAT?" ones....

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I can usually figure out why they rec books and DVDs for me: if I bought Doctor Who then I must like all SF (and no, I'm not buying BSG).

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

... and they they rec me toys...

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I haven't read that book yet, but it's on my wishlist. The books of Jenkins' that I have read have been, IMO, very insightful and very positive about and understanding of fandom as a whole, and he's had some interesting things to say lately about how different forms of media are coming together in new and exciting ways. And I've read his testimony on video games to the U.S. Congress, too... it was a real breath of sanity in a landscape of brainless political blame-throwing.

He has an interesting (if rather verbose) blog (http://www.henryjenkins.org/), too.

(Oh, and while I'm at it, I totally second the recommendation for The Democratic Genre. And not just because I'm quoted in it, either. :))

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He sounds very good then. I may look for it in the library even though it's only a slim chance; I can't afford many overseas books.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ignore that. It brings in all the comments as well, so it doesn't work properly. Bah.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I usually look at it through Google's RSS reader, myself. That works nicely.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I have now sussed the correct XML. [headdesk]

Here's the correct LJ feed: h_jenkins_blog

[tlingel.livejournal.com]

Thanks . That sounds interesting. I'm trying to get out of the habit of buying interesting books when I know I don't have time to read them just now. Although I always have several on the go I now only allow myself to buy a new one once I finish an existing one. I still weaken occasionally, but I'm a lot better than I used to be about not acquiring books I'll never get round to reading. Amazon wish list time for that one I think, so I don't forget the details.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I usually rely on the library (I couldn't afford my reading habit otherwise) but sometimes I'm forced to buy books I can't get here.

he has a blog???

[mossymermaid.livejournal.com]

wow, thanks for posting that.

I've been a fan ever since I read his book textual poachers. A bit out of date now, but very interesting....

About time someone took us seriously as a community. And very good that someone sees a positive side to our enthusiasm....

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The blog looks really interesting; he's been talking about Heroes recently. I should see if someone's made it a feed. [goes to look] Nope, but I have now. If you add jenkins_archive to your flist, you can read it here. :-)

Yes, we're usually just a joke target for badly researched articles.

Thank you!

[mossymermaid.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads up!

*hugs*

Also - icon love...!

<3

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I have now sussed the correct XML. [headdesk]

Here's the correct LJ feed: h_jenkins_blog