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Research paper thumbnail of The Affordances Of Repackaged Popular Music From The Past

markdownabstractThis thesis explores the affordances of repackaged popular music from the past. P... more markdownabstractThis thesis explores the affordances of repackaged popular music from the past. Particularly, how they feature in audiences’ reflections on different stages and transitions in their life course. Three case studies highlight different modes of repackaging and illustrate how reunited or continuing music acts from the past (e.g. Dutch pop act Doe Maar, or the American boy band Backstreet Boys) still play a role in the life course of their fans. Therewith, this research connects popular music, fans and aging. Furthermore, it demonstrates how mainstream popular music can be meaningful for fans across their life course.

Research paper thumbnail of Love Me for a Reason: An Auto- ethnographic Account of Boyzone Fandom

Fan scholars such as Matt Hills have argued that fannish interests can become relevant and irrele... more Fan scholars such as Matt Hills have argued that fannish interests can become relevant and irrelevant at different times during a fan's life. Combining insights from popular music and fan studies, in this article we use an auto-ethnographic approach to examine our changing levels of interest in Boyzone. Both of us encountered the Irish boy band at different times in our lives, and both of us experienced our fandom in different ways. In relation to the band's fandom, Boyzone's music can be considered a technology of " self " (DeNora 2000): a vehicle that people use to work through their biographies by recalling particular emotions and memories. We theorize this engagement with our fan object both by considering Cornel Sandvoss' notion that media fandom is a partial extension of the teenage self, and Rebecca William's concept of post-object fandom. Using our two experiences as a case study, we show how dormant music fandom can develop in different ways for fans in different circumstances.

Research paper thumbnail of Larger than life: Exploring the transcultural practices of the Dutch Backstreet Boys fandom

This study examines how the media use of non-Anglo American fans of the Backstreet Boys played a ... more This study examines how the media use of non-Anglo American fans of the Backstreet Boys played a role in maintaining their long-term fandom. It does this by exploring how Dutch fans of the group negotiated its global reach and impact. The findings indicate that in the early days of the band’s fame, fans could rely on frequent (translated) coverage of this cultural text in the Dutch media. However, when the group disappeared off the Dutch media’s radar, the fans had to themselves become gate-openers and gatekeepers; they felt responsible for (continuing) circulating news, created their own Dutch fan-sites and fan-forums and befriended other (Dutch and international) fans online to sustain their fandom.
Consequently, this study exposes how transcultural practices feature in this Dutch fandom, as well as how adapting and implementing new forms of media use helps to uphold long-term fandom in general.

Research paper thumbnail of Still ‘Got the Feelin’’: Exploring Post-Youth’s Enjoyment of Music from their Recent

Jennings and Gardner (2012) unfolded how women in their 40s and over keep making and enjoying mus... more Jennings and Gardner (2012) unfolded how women in their 40s and over keep making and enjoying music – albeit passing the ‘culturally appropriate age’ of popular music consumption. This study highlights how post-youth women (Bennett & Hodkinson, 2012) are already occupied with explaining their enjoyment of music icons from their youth, such as the Backstreet Boys (BSB) or The Big Reunion acts (e.g. 5ive, Blue), which their peers consider age-inappropriate. Post-youth are those in their late twenties to late thirties gaining new tasks and duties due to growing older (e.g. motherhood or working full-time). The interviewees legitimize their music consumption by considering their revived fandom (the Big Reunion) as a space to take a break from everyday life, because it is reminiscent of their childhood. On the other hand, the perpetual BSB-fandom offers the fans a continuous safe haven - where fans can turn to when coping with the challenges of ageing. These music-related spaces are constructed, and activated, by putting to use one’s roots capital: capital that is claimed through one’s narrative reflection and helps to explain the attachment to a cultural artifact from one’s roots – (both) the place and time (Zeitgeist) in which one grew up. Hence, this paper discusses how these music-fans are already as post-youth challenged to renegotiate their music consumption.

Research paper thumbnail of Articulations of Identity and Distinction: The Meanings of Language in Dutch Popular Music

On the basis of interviews with music audiences, heritage practitioners, and cultural industry w... more On the basis of interviews with music audiences, heritage practitioners, and cultural
industry workers, this article explores how language use in Dutch popular music relates to
local and historically situated taste patterns and music practices. Most popular music in
the Netherlands is sung in English, Dutch, or dialects of the Dutch language. We discuss
how these languages are used in Dutch popular music as an expression of cultural taste,
cultural identities, and local heritages. Furthermore, we describe historical trends in the
attention to various languages and their associated genres, focusing on processes of
classification and cultural legitimization.

Research paper thumbnail of Call for Papers! European Fan Cultures - November, 2015, the Netherlands

European Fan Cultures 2015 invites inspiring talks about European fan studies and related topics.... more European Fan Cultures 2015 invites inspiring talks about European fan studies and related topics. The topic of fans and fan cultures connects a wide range of disciplines, which is why we welcome scholars who investigate (but not limited to) audiences, media, leisure, tourism, games and celebrities. Early career scholars and PhD students are especially invited to contribute.

Academic studies are increasingly paying attention to active audiences and participatory cultures. The figure of the fan – the enthusiastic, adoring, productive, but critical audience member perhaps best captures these cultures. Both online and offline, fans have their own subcultures, habits and local practices based around their relationship with a range of media texts and objects, both domestic and global.

Fandom represents what it means to engage with popular culture today. Fans are active, inspired and passionate followers of media content. Yet, the meaning-making processes of fans can vary greatly, especially when taking a geographical perspective. The diversity of Europe offers an interesting setting to explore the broad variety of fan practices, raising questions such as: How do fans understand objects of global or transnational pop-culture in their national or local context? How is one’s national identity of influence in (global) fan activism? What challenges unfold when fan production happens in the local language (e.g. fan fiction or fan forums)?

The conference will feature Professor dr. Cornell Sandvoss (University of Huddersfield) as a keynote speaker. He is the author of Fans: The Mirror of Consumption (2005), and co-editor of Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World (2007). His keynote will focus on “The Value of Belonging: Fans, Place and Postnationalism in Europe”.

European Fan Cultures 2015 invites inspiring talks about European fan studies and related topics. The topic of fans and fan cultures connects a wide range of disciplines, which is why we welcome scholars who investigate (but not limited to) audiences, media, leisure, tourism, games and celebrities. Early career scholars and PhD students are especially invited to contribute. We welcome proposals on, but not limited to, the following topics:

European Fan Cultures
Local fandom and audience cultures
National identity in media tourism, music and sports
Transcultural fandom
Politics and fandom

Media and European fandoms
Fan activism
Fan works and practices
Anti-fandom
Reception of video games, music, television
Construction of celebrity images

Methods and Approaches
Challenges of local fan studies, such as language issues
(Internet) ethnography
Ethics of researching fans, users and consumers

Please submit an abstract of max. 250 words (plus 3 key words to help classify your submission) and a short biography (including your name, email address, institutional affiliation and position) by the 22nd of July to Simone Driessen at: efc@eshcc.eur.nl

Notifications of acceptance will be send out before the 5th of August. There is a fee of 80€ which covers participations costs (including lunch and refreshments on both days).

Conference Presentations & Papers by Simone Driessen

Research paper thumbnail of Fan Studies Network 2014 presentation: 'As Long As You Love Me' : Insights in the long-term fandom of Dutch Backstreet Boys fans

Bourdieu (1992) considers the habitus to be ‘the active presence of the whole past of which it is... more Bourdieu (1992) considers the habitus to be ‘the active presence of the whole past of which it is the product’. This past becomes ‘accumulated capital, which produces history on the basis of history and so, ensures the permanence in change’ (Bourdieu, 1992: 56). Rimmer’s (2007) musical habitus offers a framework through explore how music forms such permanence in one’s life. The musical habitus namely helps to explain how an individual’s connection to music perpetually relates to socialization and social location.
This study explores this permanence by analyzing how and why 24 post-youth women are still fans of the Backstreet Boys. Findings indicate that the Boys – and their music – form a constant factor in their lives. This importance can in-/decrease at times (as Hills, 2002 argues as well), yet the music of the boys offers a safe-haven to which the fans can return when they need a break from their current responsibilities and duties. So, the music and concerts are not just a ‘time-out’ from their current social role (e.g. a mom, working full-time); it is a moment in which the fans connect with their younger Selves again. They return to a previous habitus, to a starting point of a musical habitus that has grown more complex over recent years. Yet, because of their current social and economic position they are also able to engage in practices they previously could not engage with (e.g. buying meet & greets or going on a cruise with the band).
So the changes in meaning and practices they now employ are ways of appropriating their ‘fanship’ into their current social location, which helps them, endure (their musical habitus and younger identity) in this location and its social world.

Research paper thumbnail of 'You still turn me on': The Big Reunion's appeal to a post-youth audience

Research paper thumbnail of Aging Minds and Popular Music

Research paper thumbnail of Tunes of Identity: Audience memories of local music

Master Thesis by Simone Driessen

Research paper thumbnail of Master thesis: "We Seize Control For The Greater Good": Community Construction within the Harry Potter Fandom

Key words: fan studies, community construction, social capital, politics, convergence culture The... more Key words: fan studies, community construction, social capital, politics, convergence culture The objective of this thesis is to map how we can learn from fan cultures in relation to politics. It does so by exploring the role of community construction and social capital within the Harry Potter fandom. Community construction is involved with the sense of belonging to a community and how one plays a role in this. Social capital is concerned with the number of connections one can gather and therefore can offer an insight in the rise or decline of social cohesion. It is assumed, that by exploring a fandom, fan practices will be comparable with political processes.

Book Reviews by Simone Driessen

Research paper thumbnail of Book review: Understanding the End - Post-object Fandom: Television, Identity and Self-Narrative

In the engaging monograph Post-object Fan- dom: Television, Identity and Self-narrative (2015), R... more In the engaging monograph Post-object Fan- dom: Television, Identity and Self-narrative (2015), Rebecca Williams illuminates how fans of TV shows such as The West Wing (NBC 1999–2006), Lost, and Doctor Who (BBC One 1963–89, 2005–) cope with
the endings of the series. Whereas many works
on fandom or fan cultures highlight fans’ ‘becom- ing-a-fan’-narratives or fans’ involvement with media
texts, Williams’ monograph ts in the extending fan scholarship on growing older in and with a fandom (cf. Bielby, Harrington & Bardo 2014; Bennett 2013; Hodkinson & Bennett 2013). Yet, as this scholarship often seeks to provide an insight how fandom chang- es over time, or how one stays involved in (bodily) fan practices at a later age, Post-object Fandom contributes to the eld of fan studies by reviewing how the phase without the fan object is given meaning.

Drafts by Simone Driessen

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding popular music heritage practice through the lens of 'Third Place'

Research paper thumbnail of The Affordances Of Repackaged Popular Music From The Past

markdownabstractThis thesis explores the affordances of repackaged popular music from the past. P... more markdownabstractThis thesis explores the affordances of repackaged popular music from the past. Particularly, how they feature in audiences’ reflections on different stages and transitions in their life course. Three case studies highlight different modes of repackaging and illustrate how reunited or continuing music acts from the past (e.g. Dutch pop act Doe Maar, or the American boy band Backstreet Boys) still play a role in the life course of their fans. Therewith, this research connects popular music, fans and aging. Furthermore, it demonstrates how mainstream popular music can be meaningful for fans across their life course.

Research paper thumbnail of Love Me for a Reason: An Auto- ethnographic Account of Boyzone Fandom

Fan scholars such as Matt Hills have argued that fannish interests can become relevant and irrele... more Fan scholars such as Matt Hills have argued that fannish interests can become relevant and irrelevant at different times during a fan's life. Combining insights from popular music and fan studies, in this article we use an auto-ethnographic approach to examine our changing levels of interest in Boyzone. Both of us encountered the Irish boy band at different times in our lives, and both of us experienced our fandom in different ways. In relation to the band's fandom, Boyzone's music can be considered a technology of " self " (DeNora 2000): a vehicle that people use to work through their biographies by recalling particular emotions and memories. We theorize this engagement with our fan object both by considering Cornel Sandvoss' notion that media fandom is a partial extension of the teenage self, and Rebecca William's concept of post-object fandom. Using our two experiences as a case study, we show how dormant music fandom can develop in different ways for fans in different circumstances.

Research paper thumbnail of Larger than life: Exploring the transcultural practices of the Dutch Backstreet Boys fandom

This study examines how the media use of non-Anglo American fans of the Backstreet Boys played a ... more This study examines how the media use of non-Anglo American fans of the Backstreet Boys played a role in maintaining their long-term fandom. It does this by exploring how Dutch fans of the group negotiated its global reach and impact. The findings indicate that in the early days of the band’s fame, fans could rely on frequent (translated) coverage of this cultural text in the Dutch media. However, when the group disappeared off the Dutch media’s radar, the fans had to themselves become gate-openers and gatekeepers; they felt responsible for (continuing) circulating news, created their own Dutch fan-sites and fan-forums and befriended other (Dutch and international) fans online to sustain their fandom.
Consequently, this study exposes how transcultural practices feature in this Dutch fandom, as well as how adapting and implementing new forms of media use helps to uphold long-term fandom in general.

Research paper thumbnail of Still ‘Got the Feelin’’: Exploring Post-Youth’s Enjoyment of Music from their Recent

Jennings and Gardner (2012) unfolded how women in their 40s and over keep making and enjoying mus... more Jennings and Gardner (2012) unfolded how women in their 40s and over keep making and enjoying music – albeit passing the ‘culturally appropriate age’ of popular music consumption. This study highlights how post-youth women (Bennett & Hodkinson, 2012) are already occupied with explaining their enjoyment of music icons from their youth, such as the Backstreet Boys (BSB) or The Big Reunion acts (e.g. 5ive, Blue), which their peers consider age-inappropriate. Post-youth are those in their late twenties to late thirties gaining new tasks and duties due to growing older (e.g. motherhood or working full-time). The interviewees legitimize their music consumption by considering their revived fandom (the Big Reunion) as a space to take a break from everyday life, because it is reminiscent of their childhood. On the other hand, the perpetual BSB-fandom offers the fans a continuous safe haven - where fans can turn to when coping with the challenges of ageing. These music-related spaces are constructed, and activated, by putting to use one’s roots capital: capital that is claimed through one’s narrative reflection and helps to explain the attachment to a cultural artifact from one’s roots – (both) the place and time (Zeitgeist) in which one grew up. Hence, this paper discusses how these music-fans are already as post-youth challenged to renegotiate their music consumption.

Research paper thumbnail of Articulations of Identity and Distinction: The Meanings of Language in Dutch Popular Music

On the basis of interviews with music audiences, heritage practitioners, and cultural industry w... more On the basis of interviews with music audiences, heritage practitioners, and cultural
industry workers, this article explores how language use in Dutch popular music relates to
local and historically situated taste patterns and music practices. Most popular music in
the Netherlands is sung in English, Dutch, or dialects of the Dutch language. We discuss
how these languages are used in Dutch popular music as an expression of cultural taste,
cultural identities, and local heritages. Furthermore, we describe historical trends in the
attention to various languages and their associated genres, focusing on processes of
classification and cultural legitimization.

Research paper thumbnail of Call for Papers! European Fan Cultures - November, 2015, the Netherlands

European Fan Cultures 2015 invites inspiring talks about European fan studies and related topics.... more European Fan Cultures 2015 invites inspiring talks about European fan studies and related topics. The topic of fans and fan cultures connects a wide range of disciplines, which is why we welcome scholars who investigate (but not limited to) audiences, media, leisure, tourism, games and celebrities. Early career scholars and PhD students are especially invited to contribute.

Academic studies are increasingly paying attention to active audiences and participatory cultures. The figure of the fan – the enthusiastic, adoring, productive, but critical audience member perhaps best captures these cultures. Both online and offline, fans have their own subcultures, habits and local practices based around their relationship with a range of media texts and objects, both domestic and global.

Fandom represents what it means to engage with popular culture today. Fans are active, inspired and passionate followers of media content. Yet, the meaning-making processes of fans can vary greatly, especially when taking a geographical perspective. The diversity of Europe offers an interesting setting to explore the broad variety of fan practices, raising questions such as: How do fans understand objects of global or transnational pop-culture in their national or local context? How is one’s national identity of influence in (global) fan activism? What challenges unfold when fan production happens in the local language (e.g. fan fiction or fan forums)?

The conference will feature Professor dr. Cornell Sandvoss (University of Huddersfield) as a keynote speaker. He is the author of Fans: The Mirror of Consumption (2005), and co-editor of Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World (2007). His keynote will focus on “The Value of Belonging: Fans, Place and Postnationalism in Europe”.

European Fan Cultures 2015 invites inspiring talks about European fan studies and related topics. The topic of fans and fan cultures connects a wide range of disciplines, which is why we welcome scholars who investigate (but not limited to) audiences, media, leisure, tourism, games and celebrities. Early career scholars and PhD students are especially invited to contribute. We welcome proposals on, but not limited to, the following topics:

European Fan Cultures
Local fandom and audience cultures
National identity in media tourism, music and sports
Transcultural fandom
Politics and fandom

Media and European fandoms
Fan activism
Fan works and practices
Anti-fandom
Reception of video games, music, television
Construction of celebrity images

Methods and Approaches
Challenges of local fan studies, such as language issues
(Internet) ethnography
Ethics of researching fans, users and consumers

Please submit an abstract of max. 250 words (plus 3 key words to help classify your submission) and a short biography (including your name, email address, institutional affiliation and position) by the 22nd of July to Simone Driessen at: efc@eshcc.eur.nl

Notifications of acceptance will be send out before the 5th of August. There is a fee of 80€ which covers participations costs (including lunch and refreshments on both days).

Research paper thumbnail of Fan Studies Network 2014 presentation: 'As Long As You Love Me' : Insights in the long-term fandom of Dutch Backstreet Boys fans

Bourdieu (1992) considers the habitus to be ‘the active presence of the whole past of which it is... more Bourdieu (1992) considers the habitus to be ‘the active presence of the whole past of which it is the product’. This past becomes ‘accumulated capital, which produces history on the basis of history and so, ensures the permanence in change’ (Bourdieu, 1992: 56). Rimmer’s (2007) musical habitus offers a framework through explore how music forms such permanence in one’s life. The musical habitus namely helps to explain how an individual’s connection to music perpetually relates to socialization and social location.
This study explores this permanence by analyzing how and why 24 post-youth women are still fans of the Backstreet Boys. Findings indicate that the Boys – and their music – form a constant factor in their lives. This importance can in-/decrease at times (as Hills, 2002 argues as well), yet the music of the boys offers a safe-haven to which the fans can return when they need a break from their current responsibilities and duties. So, the music and concerts are not just a ‘time-out’ from their current social role (e.g. a mom, working full-time); it is a moment in which the fans connect with their younger Selves again. They return to a previous habitus, to a starting point of a musical habitus that has grown more complex over recent years. Yet, because of their current social and economic position they are also able to engage in practices they previously could not engage with (e.g. buying meet & greets or going on a cruise with the band).
So the changes in meaning and practices they now employ are ways of appropriating their ‘fanship’ into their current social location, which helps them, endure (their musical habitus and younger identity) in this location and its social world.

Research paper thumbnail of 'You still turn me on': The Big Reunion's appeal to a post-youth audience

Research paper thumbnail of Aging Minds and Popular Music

Research paper thumbnail of Tunes of Identity: Audience memories of local music

Research paper thumbnail of Master thesis: "We Seize Control For The Greater Good": Community Construction within the Harry Potter Fandom

Key words: fan studies, community construction, social capital, politics, convergence culture The... more Key words: fan studies, community construction, social capital, politics, convergence culture The objective of this thesis is to map how we can learn from fan cultures in relation to politics. It does so by exploring the role of community construction and social capital within the Harry Potter fandom. Community construction is involved with the sense of belonging to a community and how one plays a role in this. Social capital is concerned with the number of connections one can gather and therefore can offer an insight in the rise or decline of social cohesion. It is assumed, that by exploring a fandom, fan practices will be comparable with political processes.

Research paper thumbnail of Book review: Understanding the End - Post-object Fandom: Television, Identity and Self-Narrative

In the engaging monograph Post-object Fan- dom: Television, Identity and Self-narrative (2015), R... more In the engaging monograph Post-object Fan- dom: Television, Identity and Self-narrative (2015), Rebecca Williams illuminates how fans of TV shows such as The West Wing (NBC 1999–2006), Lost, and Doctor Who (BBC One 1963–89, 2005–) cope with
the endings of the series. Whereas many works
on fandom or fan cultures highlight fans’ ‘becom- ing-a-fan’-narratives or fans’ involvement with media
texts, Williams’ monograph ts in the extending fan scholarship on growing older in and with a fandom (cf. Bielby, Harrington & Bardo 2014; Bennett 2013; Hodkinson & Bennett 2013). Yet, as this scholarship often seeks to provide an insight how fandom chang- es over time, or how one stays involved in (bodily) fan practices at a later age, Post-object Fandom contributes to the eld of fan studies by reviewing how the phase without the fan object is given meaning.

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding popular music heritage practice through the lens of 'Third Place'