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Fanhistory (glossary term)
| Synonyms: | fandom history, fannish history |
| See also: | Meta, Faan |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Fanhistory is a science fiction fandom term for the history of fandom.[1] Literary SF fandom in particular has a long tradition of fanhistorians writing articles and books, some professionally published, about fandom history. Later fan communities have also recorded their own history, but are less likely to refer to it as fanhistory.
Fans also enjoy discussing their personal histories with fandom.
SF Fanhistorians
Probably the first fanhistorian was Jack Speer, who wrote a fanzine article called "Up to Now" in 1939. In 1939 there were approximately nine whole years of history to document. The article introduced the numbered fandoms system for identifying distinct periods in the evolution of fandom. Fans frequently used the system to label themselves by the era in which they entered fandom.
In the introduction to All Our Yesterdays (1969), Harry Warner, Jr. gave several reasons for becoming a fanhistorian: he thought that fandom as a hobby might end soon and wanted a record of it preserved; if he didn't do it, no one would; a later fanhistorian might get the history wrong otherwise; if any fan later became famous, fandom history would become important context; old fans would enjoy reminiscing; and new fans "will find in the book reason to take more philosophically their fannish troubles, through the discovery that we went through the same mishaps so many years ago."[2]
Primary Sources
Some sources used by fanhistorians:
- personal recollection
- correspondence/interviews
- memoirs published by fans
- oral histories
- fanzines and newsletters
- con reports and con program books
- libraries
Online Sources
The Internet has been hosting fan activity since the 1980s, as well as being a way to share information about both offline and online fandom. Fanworks and discussions hosted on the Web are often a window into the past (for as long as the site stays up).
- Wayback Machine for deleted fansites, blog posts, etc.
- Livejournal communities
- Fandom podcasts
- Google Groups (archive of usenet)
Print Histories
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanzines
Professional Works
- Sam Moskowitz. The Immortal Storm: A History of Science Fiction Fandom (1951)
- Harry Warner, Jr. All Our Yesterdays: An Informal History of Science Fiction Fandom in the Forties (1969)
- Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak and Joan Winston. Star Trek Lives! (1975)
Fandom History Projects
Some of these are more focused on preserving primary sources, while others are focused on writing history.
- The Foresmutters Project
- Fan History Wiki
- Fancyclopedia
- Fan Fiction Oral History Project
- Media Fandom Oral History Project
- Organization for Transformative Works projects
References
- ^ Fanhistory - Fancyclopedia 3, Archived version (accessed 1 October 2018)
- ^ Harry Warner, All Our Yesterdays: An Informal History of Science Fiction Fandom in the Forties (Framingham: NESFA Press, 2004), 20.