Fandom Culture, Death of the Author and Content Interpretation
Hello, From Neverland
I'm MissNeverBird and welcome to my channel.
I have always been fascinated by the way stories (no matter the medium) can inspire and draw so many people to rally around them when they find significance with it and subsequently, when the story evolves into something completely different than expected in meaning, becoming a symbol of inspiration for people that consume the medium in the process.
But this just proves the effective nature of stories, the human spirit and how you can take something that means one thing but then completely transform its meaning into something completely different.
In this video - will be exploring the power of fandom in how stories such Harry Potter and others has completely changed my outlook on how an audience interacts with their chosen media along with the concepts of Death of the Author and Content Interpretation that I have touched upon in my first video.
As someone who has unintentionally been part of fan culture since the early 2010's - it has been quite the journey for me.
As one who loves exploring stories and the effect they have on people - fandom is the perfect place to see how people interact with their chosen media within their fandom community which includes analysers and reviewers, the shipping community and other parts that involve any interaction between the audience and the content.
This leads to the concepts of fandom-, media- and social psychology which explores how an audience interacts with their chosen media
And what's so amazing about a community that exists around a work is the different reasons why a story resonates with an individual - whether its for the characters, the world-building or the story as a whole - creating a diverse community around a favoured work that connects with different parts of said work.
If you are interested in learning more about Fandom Psychology - I will put some links down below.
As I said - the way people react to something, the way they interact with it and the fandom around an object is my main focus of interest.
Take the world of Harry Potter for example - it is one of the biggest if not the biggest fandom in existence and I really admire JK Rowling - despite her flaws - for being able to conceive such as a series - one of the best modern fantasy series in existence - I mean the world-building, the creatures, the magic system, the characters and the metaphors behind the concepts and the commentary on the real world is extraordinary.
What amazes me even more is how attached people become to these fictional worlds that are simultaneously very real and that is due to the amazing cast of characters inhabiting these worlds whether fantastical or mundane.
These are some of the reasons why I love storytelling and stories because they are a mirror of the society and culture that creates them.
Which brings us to:
Death of the Author and Content Interpretation (Title Card)
Stories are a reflection of the society and culture that created them - but humanity is very subjective and not every person interprets a work of fiction the same way.
How each individual interprets content is dependent on that person’s personality, background, upbringing at that time and what stage of life they are in
This is what makes content interpretation so interesting - one person can look at a story and come away with something completely different than another person.
And this circles back to what I had said in the beginning about a story becoming something completely different than what is meant to be.
Stories evolve as people evolve and when a culture or society's values or ideals start to evolve - what we end up with are stories that are completely repackaged into something new - but these stories that are still the same at their core but completely different appearance wise.
And that is absolutely amazing!
One of the best known examples of a literary character is Sherlock Holmes - known as the most adapted fictional character - appearing in book, tv, stage, radio and movie form - and over the years the character of Sherlock has gone through many re-interpretations and has been become a palimpsest I.e a cultural text that has been repeatedly altered over time as each new interpretation becomes superimposed over those that precede it. Sherlock continuing evolves, embodying ideals and values often far removed from those found in Conan Doyle.
If you find the above paragraph fascinating - this is an excerpt from Ted-Ed’s Who IS Sherlock Holmes? - I encourage you to give it a watch since it perfectly illustrates what I am talking about evolving stories.
If are interested in reading more on this topic I would also recommend reading Stranger than Fanfiction by Chris Colfer (of Glee Fame) to get more background on fandom culture. It is an excellent read and I absolutely adore it. Please note that this book contains LGBTQ+ themes (Picture of Book)
If you liked something in this video - I invite you to please like and subscribe to my channel and click that notification bell for future content. If you have any questions - please comment down below - I would love to have a discussion with anyone about their fandoms and the impact it has had on them.
I am leaving you with a clip from Dead Poets Society starring Robin Williams who perfectly sums up my feelings for stories and as an INFP and I put some links down below to sources if you are interested in reading up more on what I have discussed here today
Insert clip here
I am MissNeverBird and always remember to have a little faith, trust and pixie dust. Bye!
Links
- https://fs.blog/2016/12/fiction-influences-inspires/ - fiction that influences and inspires
- https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/320914 - How Fiction Can Change Your Perspective on Real Life?
- https://www.themarysue.com/the-psychology-of-fandom/ - The Psychology of Fandom: Why We Get Attached to Fictional Characters
Psychology of fiction – parasocial relationships -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22yoaiLYb7M
Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter are Real - Ted Talk - Karen Shackleford - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scaTmIDg2Ls
- Taking Stranger Than Fanfiction Too Seriously ft EmeraldComet - FOB Equestria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9tr90r05Mw
- Who IS Sherlock Holmes? - Neil McCaw
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