Affirmational Fandom
| Synonyms: | |
| See also: | Transformational Fandom, Professional Author Fanfic Policies, Affirmational Fandom, Blueprint Culture, Curative Fandom |
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Affirmational fandom is a phrase coined by obsession_inc in her 2009 essay Affirmational fandom vs. Transformational fandom. She defines "affirmational fandom"
as a creator-centric, largely male form of fandom in which "the source material is re-stated, the author's purpose divined to the community's satisfaction, rules established on how the characters are and how the universe works, and cosplay &etc. occur"
She further notes that:
This is the very most awesome type of fandom for the source creator to hang out with, because the creator holds the magic trump card of Because I'm The Only One Who Really Knows, That's Why, and that is accepted as a legitimate thing. Additionally, in this world where the internet's democratization of publishing is making the world a scary place for creators, this is a very non-threatening place for those creators: they're in charge, they're always the last word on their own works, and the terrifying idea of fanworks taking their works away from them and futzing with them is not one that comes up a lot. As a result, these are the fans that the creator will hang out with, and vice versa. These are the sanctioned fans.
In this schema, the opposite of affirmational fandom is transformational fandom.
Skud elaborated on affirmational fandom in a related post on Affirmational vs Transformational fandom, and offered "the following rough guide to some concepts" they uses to define it and to distinguish it from Transformational Fandom:
Affirmational fandom |
Transformational fandom |