Cameron – It Takes A Village
Posted: April 30th, 2009 | Author: CA | Filed under: PROJECTS | No Comments »
Projects: Cameron – Public Imaginaries
Posted: April 30th, 2009 | Author: CA | Filed under: PROJECTS | No Comments »
Project: Online Anime Fan Community Research: Summary of Projects 1, 2, and 3
Posted: April 29th, 2009 | Author: MB | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »The online anime fan community provides a social network and creative outlet for many devote fans. In the preliminary research for my project, I found that few resources existed that either accurately reflected the current status of the community or provided a comprehensive framework for its analysis. Therefore, with my three projects this semester I have attempted to create a methodology for analyzing the online anime fan community. The first two projects took the form of an extended paper that applied numerous theories to the fan communities, while the final project was a survey of three forums in the online fan community and two physical fan groups. I have summarized here the theories in which the projects cumulated.
Why produce fan works? What does their production signify? Why are people involved in the online community?
Benefits of Fandom-Project One
-Lines of commodity exchange, such as card games, can be lines of socialization as well: participants can extend or restrict social involvement
-Brand-like qualities, Familiarity but variation: Franchises are akin to economic capital but are also a psychological force. Fandom gives comfort and a sense of own power in an exclusive world
-Characters almost like friends, family.
-Community formed around product can also be like family.
-Fandom provides access to information
-Tendency to try to fully understand story, fill in missing scenes and interactions- media as community resource
Fandom and Textuality-Project Two
What about a franchise or series makes fandom appealing?
- Following up on fandom as community resource: endlessly deferred narrative, Grand non-narrative ending, hyperdiegesis- all promote fan involvement in fleshing out universe
- creator-auteur
- Dressing up allows individual to inhabit the world
- Characters can directly reference real life audience
- Japaneseness could be considered text as well, is incorporated into fan works almost as character flaw, setting quality
Project Three: Survey
-The survey indicated that the sense of community and connections between individuals are a critical part of the fan community.
-The survey also indicated the greater importance of expanding upon characters or the universe over a sense of connection to the characters. These results might have been skewed, however, because the survey was not oriented towards a group devoted solely to fanfiction.
-The survey also indicated the importance of physical interactions with other members of the fan community. Interestingly, it rebutted one of my assumptions, which was that significant friendships were frequently made and sustained in online fan communities. Instead, this seems to require personal connection.
What role does Japaneseness have and why do Japanese motifs circulate in the anime fan community?
History of Japanese media in US- Project One
-America was once dominated by Disney style animation and narratives
-Pokemon was the first brand to really crash into the American media market, owners refused to compromise its aesthetics
-Over time, Consumers have become familiar with the items that were once airbrushed out, like rice balls, and the Japanese aspects of the narrative are altered less frequently
-American fascination with Japan, Japanese items have become fetishized
Fandom and Japanese Culture Education 2006- Project Two
- Majority of Japanese students interested due to anime
-76% of anime fans have some interest in learning Japanese
- The Japanese origin of something indicates that it is somehow inherently Japanese and can provide a window onto Japanese culture
- Authenticity is a central concern- dubbing/subbing. Direct translations and items directly from Japan are considered more authentic
- Fan communities as much a celebration of Japan and Japaneseness as Franchises.
Project Three: Survey
-The survey strongly rebutted my assumption that Japaneseness was highly fetishized in America, thus drawing viewers. Instead, the primary way that fans seem to have gotten involved in anime was through series that were on TV. Despite this, it was important to many fans that the original Japanese qualities of a work be preserved.
-The survey indicated that many fans value the Japanese narrative style for its greater complexity and attention to characters than Western media. It also indicated the importance subtitles have for many fans in retaining authenticity. Numerous fans mentioned that the Japanese qualities of an anime are important to their enjoyment of the series.
-The survey thoroughly rebutted the idea that anime fans first become interested in anime because they see it as educational, offering insight into Japanese culture. Instead, this often works in the exact opposite direction; fans become interested in Japanese culture and the Japanese language because of their involvement with anime.
Structure of the fan community:
The Fan Network- Project One
- The online anime community can be defined as a network, with the correspondingly relatively unlinked minor websites, some connected communities, and hubs, which have many sites linked to them. Most websites are linked to the hubs, which ultimately organize the network.
-What are the hubs of the fan community? Largely sites where numerous fans contribute their work, such Fanfiction.net, Deviantart.com, and EvaGeeks.org
-Webrings have a horizontal arrangement, as they connect to equivalently little-linked sites.
-Links to reality: business cards handed out at conventions contain hyperlinks to the individuals’ work, and personal relationships form at conventions that continue to exist online. Thus, anime fan communities in real life are linked to the online network.
Problems- Although smaller scale organizations exist, they do not uniformly link to higher levels; thus, some hubs cater to a specific audience instead of simply expanding. Hubs often do not link to homepages immediately but display works connected to information about the author, thus, authors seem to constitute the links. Authors contribute works to sites, no matter the prominence of their own website as a hub. This does not correspond to Barabasi’s system, where representation is dependent on the number of links to the website.
Fan communities as assemblage- Project Two
-Smaller units of organization relate to form a larger structure: webpage to website to webring to hub to network.
- Behavior promotes homogeneity. Webites in the same subunit address the same series and have similar products and intentions.
-Connection with the network theory: smaller parts of a larger system are vital for the functioning of the entire system. Thus, the horizontal organization may take the form of a series of forums, where information is released by the highest, corporate level to maintain fan interest. This is known as “just-in-time fandom” (Hills).
-Thus, DeLanda’s theory works well with Barabasi’s. Websites can be defined as functioning subsets of a larger organization. This allows for the interactions of a governing structure with sites to be considered links. Thus, a governing or organizing website, such as Fanfiction. Net, can be considered both a part of the assemblage and a hub.
Problems- The online community does not neatly fit into the class or hierarchy categories afforded by DeLanda. Additionally, there is no consistent mechanism at different levels of the online anime network, so the ability to reduce it is limited. Additionally, despite DeLanda’s claim, online communication does not destabilize, but leads to the creation of virtual space as compensation and maintains the identity and activities of the fan network.
Project Three: Survey
-The survey largely confirmed these theories about the online community. The majority of websites people mentioned had been accessed through google, a major hub of the internet. One of these websites, the animenation forum, was shown to have numerous links to other websites; thus, it also constitutes a hub. Not all of the forums I surveyed could be considered hubs in the strictest sense.
-The survey confirms the proposition that people could be considered links. Many of the respondents indicated that they accessed certain websites through profile links or word-of-mouth, thus not relying on internet hubs.
-This result also links the online anime community to physical social structures. Friends met in person will recommend sites, indicating that connection between different section of the online community is due to social interaction. This introduced the idea of physical hubs.
-The enumerate responses indicating torrent sites used to download anime confirm Marion’s argument that a major part of the online anime community is structured around downloading material illegally.
-If the survey were expanded to a larger pool of respondents on online hubs, questions five and six could be used to create a map of the online anime community. This map would organize links between sites based on method of access and purpose for use. I would then like to distribute the map to the online anime community, as a way of encouraging a community identity, and preserve the map as a representation of the community’s current form.
Project:Religious impressions from the south by Lydia Halldorf
Posted: April 29th, 2009 | Author: LH | Filed under: IMAGES, PROJECTS | No Comments »
The two themes of this project has been “the end times”and the relationship between the Christian and the secular culture. Coming from the very secular country Sweden I could not help noticing how these two cultures tend to merge here in the south. The aesthetics and messages of Evangelical churches, and this subculture at large, has been one source of inspiration for me. Another is the author Flannery O´Connor and her cryptic, enigmatic stories on similar themes.
Project: Online Survey
Posted: April 29th, 2009 | Author: MB | Filed under: PROJECTS | No Comments »For my third project, I wanted to evaluate the anime fan community directly to complement my previous theorizing. I decided on using a six-question survey with written, rather than multiple choice, responses. The intent of this was to encourage people to respond due to its short length, and to enable the individuals to give personal and specific responses. Additionally, I designed some of the questions so that they visibly reflected the central theses of my paper; additionally, I informed the respondents of the three major topics of my paper. The purpose of this was to cause the respondents to reply in such a way immediately useful for my thesis, but also to encourage them to voice their opinions about the relationship of such theses to their perceptions of the online anime fan community and their own interests. I posted this survey on three anime-related forums on Animenation.net, EvaGeeks.org, and Shoujo-ai.com, and sent it out to two listservs: my fraternity’s, Psi Upsilon, which has a large number of people interested in Japanese culture and anime, and Duke’s anime club’s. I chose these five groups because I am members of all of them and am thus able to ask for people’s assistance, and because I anticipated that my activity on the sites and with groups has led to a familiarity with the slang, activities and websites that would emerge in the responses. The survey was largely successful and resulted in little confusion and 31 detailed responses. Although the methods I used did not render responses in concrete majorities, the results indicate trends in the online anime community. The responses both complement and contradict the theories used in my first two projects.
Survey Results
1) What do you find most rewarding about participating in fan projects or being active on fan websites? Why do you choose to participate?
Interest in others’ opinions- 5
Meeting people/friends- 5
Promote understanding of anime- 4
Communication with other fans- 11 (two of these directly referenced the importance of the community. One referred to this as a replacement of physical interaction)
As a hobby/ to relax- 5
Helping out with various projects and websites online 2
Analyzing an anime 2
2) Are you regularly in contact with other members of the anime fan community?
Communicate in unspecified way- 7
Online, not in person- 5, (1 referenced a virtual “family”)
In person, not online 7
Anime clubs- 4
18 respondents are active on a message board, although they did not report it
Games and polls- 1
Conventions- 2
No- 2
3) Is the Japanese origin or quality of a series important to your interest in it? What is its most attractive quality?
Attraction to different kinds of stories: character development, plot quality- 12 (one remarked on specifically Japanese style of storytelling)
Attraction to visual style/artwork- 9
Japanese style is different somehow, has an extra flair or otherworldliness- 6
Overall quality- 3
More intellectual- 4
4) Did you become involved in anime due to an interest in Japanese culture or language?
Introduction through franchises aired on TV- 14 (including Sailor Moon, Naruto Trigun, Dragon Ball Z)
Anime caused interest in Japanese culture- 7
Subtitles, not dubs- 4
Interest in language, but not driving force- 3
No-3
Yes-2
5) How have you participated in or contributed to the anime fan community? (ie posting fanfiction on Fanfiction.net, creating a website, etc.)
Fanfiction: Posted on Fanfiction.net- 4, unspecified/unpublished- 8
Helping with websites- 5 forum moderators, 2 website assistants, 1 artist
Posting on forums-5
Making own website-4
Costumes-3
Online projects- wiki-writing- 1, re-dubbing- 2
Fan art-2
Making anime- inspired comic book-2
Blogging-2
Making Amvs-2
Reviewing Anime -2
Attending conventions-2
Reading manga- 2
Translating- 2
6) What websites are you most active on, and how did you first acess them?
(The images accompanying this entry indicate the most frequently reported connections between websites.)
Sample Responses:
1) What do you find most rewarding about participating in fan projects or being active on fan websites? Why do you choose to participate?
I choose to participate because I enjoy interacting with people from all over the world, even though I live in the States. I think the most rewarding thing about anime fandom is just meeting all sorts of people and discussing various issues, even if it’s not anime.
Personally, I love reading the opinions of others. I like to post my own thoughts on a blog, and then I can read what other people think about the same thing. It is pretty interesting actually. People suggest or say many things that I never thought of or also noticed something that I never did before!
There’s often little to doing something enjoyable unless you can enjoy it with other people. It’s a way to make something that used to be considered solitary (i.e. watching anime) into a social activity. I find social contact with other like-minded individuals rewarding, where you can often discuss things that you can’t talk about in normal everyday conversation.
2) Are you regularly in contact with other members of the anime fan community?
I attended my college anime club in my senior year, originally searching for someone with superior drawing skills to collaborate with. I ended up going to social outings with the club, such as movies and sushi dinners. And I’m currently working with someone with superior drawing skills that I met at the anime club. I provide the story and script, he supplies manga-style artwork.
Yes, at conventions and I have a number among my friends.
Answer: Not often. I recognize some peoples screen-names but I don’t write
with them regularly though I wished I had some sort of contact. Where I live,
no one likes fanfiction.
3) Is the Japanese origin or quality of a series important to your interest in it? What is its most attractive quality?
Sort of. It’s not really so much that it’s Japanese, but that it that it’s animation done the right way. There are some good western animations, but few. After watching anime for a few years, however, I have come to like the “Japanese” aspects, most of all the language.
The origin doesn’t matter, but I do prefer the different storytelling, settings, and such that separate anime from other mediums.
The origin doesn’t matter. Anime has given me interest in Japan, yes. However, the Japanese origin is not the source of my interest. I watch anime because there are lots of wonderful stories out there to be seen.
4) Did you become involved in anime due to an interest in Japanese culture or language?
I actually became interested in anime first, and from anime, I became interested in Japanese culture and language. I watch some Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon episodes, and next thing I knew, I was in love with everything Japanese!
No, I began watching anime because of an interest in the (terrible) North American dub of Sailor Moon.
I began watching anime due to some of the Americanized versions from my childhood and seeing a few animes caused me to be nostalgic for that. Also, the presence of a high school anime club gave me a social outlet and is probably where I really became interested in it.
5) What how have you participated in or contributed to the anime fan community? (ie posting fanfiction on Fanfiction.net, creating a website, etc.)
Writing fanfiction, Role-playing on the forums, translating a few things here and there (for example: doujinshi (fan comics), or pictures/text), the voice of Asuka in Zeak’s Re-Take fanimation, and helping out with the Evageeks wiki as well as being one of the staff members here.
I’ll admit that I’ve written fanfiction. There’s probaly still some stories of mine on fanfiction.net. Sometimes it’s kind of fun to challenge yourself and from a writer point of view, it’s kind of a fun challenge to write something with characters that are already someone else’s.
Answer: I post fanfics on http://www.Fanfiction.net, let people have a
different view of an anime or maybe a different ending or different action at
a certain place. Other than that, not much. I’m not much for looking around at
forums, as I don’t generally get the idea^^;
6) What fan websites do you find yourself visiting most often? How did you first come across these websites?
Baka-updates and AnimeTake (to download the anime), ANN (anime news network) to rate and read things about the series, Animepaper (to get some awesome wallpapers) and Random Curiosity (the blog I post to that does episode recaps for many different anime series airing).
- Animenation.com . Honestly not sure how I first heard of it.
- Anime News Network. Saw it as the source of news for Ask John.
- Spinoff creation sites, such as AnimeMusicVideos.org or Cosplaylab.com
- Anime convention sites, such as Metroconventions.com
Animesuki.com, dattebayo.com, Crunchyroll/Hulu/Viz.com now that Naruto is released there instead. I came across these sites from Torrent aggregators (and came to enjoy their work/aggregation skills.
PROJECT: Tennis forum collaboration
Posted: April 28th, 2009 | Author: SK | Filed under: IMAGES, PROJECTS | No Comments »
I chose this online community to help bridge the gap in my understanding of both the Open Source movement and the public domain. Like software developers, the members of the community have virtually no interaction beyond their participation on the message board (which is built on open source software). There are mainstream alternatives to this community in the form of tennis blogs and magazines that provide the equivalent of “firm produced software” because they have intellectual property rights on their products. In contrast, this tennis community is based around members’ discussing/debating various issues surrounding the sport and intellectual property rights aren’t asserted over its contents. Finally, this community deals almost exclusively in text, images, and video/audio files related to the sport. These are all units of creation that the public domain is concerned about.
Members of this online community collaborated to created this image and text to represent their interest in the sport and to represent the community itself. Like Open Source developers, they critiqued each others’ works and reached consensus on the final image.
PROJECT: Public Domain/Open Source movement
Posted: April 28th, 2009 | Author: SK | Filed under: PROJECTS | No Comments »First off, apologies for inadvertently missing the last class. Final exams had me confused about our schedule. I would’ve really enjoyed hearing about how everyone’s projects culminated and I am sad that I missed it.
Here is a brief overview of my project in its three parts. Please feel free to offer any feedback/critique, I would really appreciate it.
Overall, this class has offered a great opportunity for me to understand my research in law and cultural anthropology in the context of other experimental communities. The public domain’s standard bearer of success during this age of increasing intellectual property protection has been the Open Source movement. An experimental community (albeit now a mainstream one) of software professionals looking for an alternative to the firm model of software production, I felt that in order to write about this movement in my research, I needed to understand how different experimental communities have been written about and contextualized in the past. Our various group presentations on everything from the CAE to the various cults have proved invaluable because they’ve increased my theoretical understanding of the community I’m studying.
I also wanted to understand the process of collobaration. The community garden and the day of silence both stood out for me as ways in which people have collobarated for a cause. One was an example of labor sharing and working towards a common goal, without a stake of ownership. The other was people connected across physical boundaries only through a common practice. Finally, the act of critiquing each other’s work was also an important insight into the Open Source movement which incorporates all these elements into its essence.
Project 1: Foundations of the Open Source movement. My first project was a paper that explored the knowledge creation model that Linux (and the Open Source movement) was based on i.e. repeated peer review and a credit economy.
Project 2: My second project was an attempt at recreating some of the tenets of the Open Source movement amongst a smaller online tennis fan community. Participants chose images and text that they collobarated on to produce a collage that represented their interests in the sport and their notions about their own community. This project was an important bridge in understanding how the Open Source movement can have important lessons for the public domain that is mostly a collection of images, text and video based intellectual property units. The project and the subsequent questions in class after my presentation were key to my understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the Open Source movement when applied to the world of images and text.
Project 3: Ultimately, the end of my project will be my Master’s thesis for my joint degree. This would be the scope of the project at its most ambitious. For now, I will add to my paper on Linux (and a paper I had written earlier on the Public Domain) to synthesize my thoughts on how this experimental community of software programmers will impact our understanding of the commons and what lessons we can take away to create a more robust public domain.