UFRGS FIS LIT ENG 2014

[1] “Fan” is ........ abbreviated form of

“fanatic”, which has ........ roots in ........ Latin

word “fanaticus”, which simply meant

“belonging to the temple, a devotee”. But

[5] these words quickly assumed negative

connotations, to the point of becoming

references to excessive religious belief and to any

mistaken enthusiasm.

Based on such connotations, news reports

[10] frequently characterize fans as psychopaths

........ frustrated fantasies of intimate

relationships with stars or unsatisfied desires

to achieve stardom take violent and antisocial

forms. Whether viewed as a religious fanatic,

[15] a psychopathic killer, a neurotic fantasist, or a

lust-crazed groupie, the fan remains a

“fanatic” with interests alien to the realm of

“normal” cultural experience and a mentality

dangerously out of touch with reality.

[20] To understand the logic behind this

discursive construction of fans, we must

reconsider what we mean by taste. Concepts

of “good taste,” appropriate conduct, or

aesthetic merit are not natural or universal;

[25] rather, they are rooted in social experience

and reflect particular class interests. Taste

becomes one of the important means by

which social distinctions are maintained and

class identities are forged. Those who

[30] “naturally” possess appropriate tastes

“deserve” a privileged position, while the

tastes of others are seen as underdeveloped.

Taste distinctions determine desirable and

undesirable ways of relating to cultural

[35] objects, strategies of interpretation and styles

of consumption.

The stereotypical conception of the fan

reflects anxieties about the violation of

dominant cultural hierarchies. The fans’

[40] transgression of bourgeois taste disrupt

dominant cultural hierarchies, insuring that

their preferences be seen as abnormal and

threatening by those who have an interest in

the maintenance of these standards (even by

[45] those who may share similar tastes but

express them in different ways).

Adapted from: JENKINS, Henry. Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. New York / London: Routledge, 1992. p. 12-16.