Fandom Is Ugly

Mel Stanfill is Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Texts and Technology Program and the Department of English at the University of Central Florida. Stanfill is the author of three books, including Rock This Way: Cultural Constructions of Musical Legitimacy.

Mel Stanfill, already well-established as a key thinker on the state and stakes of contemporary fan culture, continues to productively interrogate the field's commonsense logics. Fandom is Ugly not only utilizes an impressive array of timely test cases to explore the intersections of fandom and reactionary cultures, it speaks incisively to both the failings and fecundity of fan studies approaches in the study of culture writ large. This is a vital text for fan scholars, but also anyone seeking to analyze the intersection of affect, digital platforms, and politics. * Suzanne Scott, author of Fake Geek Girls: Fandom, Gender, and the Convergence Culture Industry * Takes fan studies in dramatic and necessary new dimensions. With their trademark insight and 'big picture' thinking, Mel Stanfill carefully and thoughtfully applies traditional fan studies methodologies to large-scale cultural events, asking us to think about fandom as more than just progressive. Fandom is Ugly is sure to challenge traditional boundaries, to provoke new ways of seeing fandom, and to spark an entirely fresh dialogue about the place of fandom and fan studies today. Fandom is ugly because fandom is all of us. A must-read. * Paul Booth, author of Digital Fandom: New Media Studies and co-editor of The Fan Studies Primer *