Theme parks break attendance numbers with the promise of “stepping inside” a film’s world. Pop-up “experiences” are a regular part of promotional cycles. All this is accepted in the contemporary media environment—but why? What is the appeal of film tourism, and what can its rise tell us about contemporary fandom? Fan Sites explores why and how we experience film and television-related places, and what the growth of this practice means for contemporary fandom. Through four case studies—Game of Thrones tourism in Dubrovnik, Croatia and Northern Ireland, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks in Orlando, Florida, fandom of The Prisoner in Portmeirion, Wales, and Friends events in the United Kingdom and United States—this book presents a multifaceted look at the ways place and fandom interact today. Fan Sites explores the different relationships that fans build with these places of fandom, from the exploratory knowledge-building of Game of Thrones fans on vacation, the appreciative evaluations of Harry Potter fans at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, to the frequent “homecoming” visits of Prisoner fans, who see Portmeirion as a “safe vault” and the home of their fandom. Including engaging accounts of real fans at each location, Fan Sites addresses what the rise of fan tourism and places of fandom might mean for the future of fandom and its relationship with the media industry.

Starting from the observation of the ubiquity of fan podcasts engaging in media commentary, this book explores three fan podcast genres in which commentary manifests as a structuring form: rewatch and reread podcasts, recap podcasts, and review podcasts. The author conducts a formalist genre analysis of these podcasts, close reading nine case studies to describe how the three genres function and how different fan labour manifests in podcasting. Each case study teases out the themes, style, and formal constellations of the three podcast genres, shows how different fans activate the affordances of podcasting and commentary, and reveals the distinct generic functions of the three podcast genres. This book will be of significant interest to scholars and students in podcast studies, fan studies, cultural studies and literary studies who are interested in fan podcasts, podcast genre analysis, and ways of close reading podcasts as texts.

What if James T. Kirk and Spock had a baby, left the Enterprise and moved to New Vulcan to live happily ever after? Fan fiction plots like this are a strong testament of fans' endless creativity. Not only do the authors invent their own storylines but they have developed a generic definition of content across fandoms according to the relationship present in the text. Classification is therefore profoundly related to gender and sexuality. Julia Elena Goldmann examines these generic structures and formulaic patterns comparatively in Star Trek and Supernatural fan fiction. She also focuses on the interplay of the concepts of gender, sexuality, relationships and depictions of family in these texts.

From the early days of the Internet to the present day, the World Wide Web has developed into one of the world's largest information resources. One of the first genres of web pages, which was also one of the first information resources, was the Personal Home Page (PHP). Over this same period of time, professional football in England has created the world's richest league and by extension an abundance of football-related PHPs. This book examines the role of the PHP as an information resource using the subject area of professional football in England. A holistic approach was taken so as to view the PHP in a broader context, as one information resource amongst many, including non-PHPs and even offline information resources (e.g. reference books). Within this study, football fans were interviewed along with web authors, surveys were carried out (by distributing both online and offline questionnaires) and additional research was also carried out online, examining football-related PHPs and online web collaborations. Results suggest that whilst there are many informational benefits to be found on PHPs, such as plentiful unique information, they have low levels of use amongst football fans. The study concludes by proposing an avenue to the maximisation of the informational benefit of PHPs through a blueprint for a type of communal football website called the Club Community Composite Page (CCCP). Overall, several contributions are made to the field of information science, most notably attaining an improved understanding of PHPs as unique and accurate information providers online and devising new research methods for PHP research. In particular, the method of identification of PHPs developed here will be a useful tool for future researchers of PHPs. The contributions of this work are likely to be of value to researchers working in relevant sub-fields of information science, such as information seeking, web genres, grey literature and virtual communities.

Henry Lightcap, a man facing a terminal illness, sets out on a trip across America accompanied only by his dog, Solstice, and discovers the beauty and majesty of the Southwest.

Given the rapidly growing presence of girls online, serious academic inquiry into the relationship between girls and the Internet is imperative. Girl Wide Web is an innovative collection of cutting-edge research exploring a wide sweep of issues related to the ways adolescent girls interact with the Internet. Employing a range of methodologies and theoretical perspectives primarily within cultural studies, the authors examine a variety of topics - from instant messaging and web-diaries to online fan communities and Internet advertising that targets young girls. Taken together, these essays provide a rich portrait of the complex relationship among girls, the Internet, and the negotiation of identity.

Literature and the Internet: A Guide for Students, Teachers, and Scholars is the only Internet guide written for those who love and study literature. The book begins with a practical introduction for readers who want help finding, navigating, and using literary sites. Later chapters focus on educational issues such as plagiarism, citation, website evaluation, the use of Internet sites in literature courses, as well as the technical, scholarly and professional issues raised by the advent of the Internet. Finally, the book concludes with a chapter on the cultural implications of the Internet for literary studies. In addition, the book offers an annotated bibliography of Internet sources (with URLs) that introduces readers to hundreds of sites which they can explore on their own. Readers need not have a B.A. or even a major in English, and no special training in computer technology and software is necessary. The book explains both the basics of the Internet and sophisticated scholarly issues in simple language. Ultimately, each Internet user must choose his or her own path through the Internet, but with Literature and the Internet in hand, surfing the net for things literary will be more efficient and satisfying and much less confusing and overwhelming.

This volume considers world-making as the intersection of the fan pilgrimage experience and the responses of destinations. It critically examines the emerging field of popular culture tourism and its close connection with fan studies and placemaking. The chapters illustrate how different destinations capitalise on expressive cultural practices to attract fan tourists, the processes involved in their tourismification, and the outcomes for both visitors and local communities. The book establishes a common ground for the comprehensive and critical study of popular culture tourism development and fandom. It integrates theory and practice and provides evidence-based recommendations for popular culture destinations. It is a useful resource for researchers in tourism management, fandom, pop culture and media studies, as well as for those working in the tourism industry.

This balanced examination looks at America's pervasive celebrity culture, concentrating on the period from 1950 to the present day. Star Struck: An Encyclopedia of Celebrity Culture is neither a stern critic nor an apologist for celebrity infatuation, a phenomenon that sometimes supplants more weighty matters yet constitutes one of our nation's biggest exports. This encyclopedia covers American celebrity culture from 1950 to 2008, examining its various aspects—and its impact—through 86 entries by 30 expert contributors. Demonstrating that all celebrities are famous, but not all famous people are celebrities, the book cuts across the various entertainment medias and their legions of individual "stars." It looks at sports celebrities and examines the role of celebrity in more serious pursuits and institutions such as the news media, corporations, politics, the arts, medicine, and the law. Also included are entries devoted to such topics as paranoia and celebrity, one-name celebrities, celebrity nicknames, family unit celebrity, sidekick celebrities, and even criminal celebrities.

New Jersey Fan Club is an eclectic anthology featuring personal essays, interviews, photographs, and comics from a diverse group of writers and artists. An exploration of how the same locale can shape people in different ways, it will inspire readers to look at the Garden State with fresh eyes.