Dissertation Proposal: Fan Culture

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL: FAN CULTURE
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DISSERTATION PROPOSAL: FAN CULTURE
Proposed title:
To what extent does fan culture affect the entertainment stars consumer market?
Introduction:
The aspect of fan culture plays a significant role, especially in creation as well as the development of the consumer market. In this paper, the term fan will generally refer to that kind of a person’s devotion towards a particular type of activity or subject. The fan culture majorly relies on the nature of communication from the entertainment stars’ performances. This proposal looks at the relevance of fan culture on the extent of consumption of entertainment productions. The inter-connected relationship between the fan culture and consumerism proves necessary towards the continual promotion of entertainment stars. There are various key activities as well as productions that define fan culture. These include the language of communication, costumes used, the fan art, the ‘filking’ as well as the nature of organized outlets for fan activities. All these activities and productions represent modes of communications. Therefore, the nature of communication that takes place between the fans leads to the creation of fan culture as well as the community. The fan culture is represented by its language referred to at times as `fanspeak’ where there is an adaptation to certain words as well as phrases that help in creating a jargon that only the fans can understand. Importantly, the fans are capable of creating their forms of art referred to as ‘fan art’ and music.
Further, the impact of the current worldwide communication through the internet serves as the key to understanding the different reasons behind the varied cultural aspects of fan culture. The dramatic increase like interactivity between fans leads to higher intensity on the creation of forums as well as blogs concerning entertainment stars. The ease with which the fans can participate in media discussions and productions readily impacts the extent of consumerism on different outputs (Malik et al., 2016).
The development of the fan culture has been rapid and on expansion over decades due to the nature of increased interest in the media. It is important for an artist to realize that the creation of forums via media helps in showcasing the importance of communication towards the overall formation of the genre as well as the fan culture. Notably, the development of culture around every production depends on the nature of the network established around the artist. According to Hackley and Hackley (2015), the fans do not create the primary content but instead ‘rework’ the content to develop interests that are not explored sufficiently. Currently, there is a dramatic shift in the relationships between fans and the media artists they follow. Previously, fans were recognized as mere passive recipients of marketing promotions, however, in the current market, they are active members and participants of fan communities within the media and entertainment economy. Fans have become creative experts making the media and entertainment companies seek new ways of developing, in...