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A review by yarnbard
Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture by Henry Jenkins
5.0
I've been familiar with Jenkins' work for years, but this is the first time that I have actually sat down and read one of his books in its entirety. I decided to start with Textual Poachers because if you dig deep enough in the citations of any paper in the field of fan studies, you will find this text.
Honestly, I'm kind of glad that I waited to read this book. Textual Poachers was published when internet fandom was in its very early years, so the text primarily concerns the fanzine era of media fandom in the 70's and 80's. I have spent the past two years looking at fanzines and studying their history, and this has given me a much deeper appreciation of and familiarity with the fanzine medium.
The 20th anniversary edition also starts off with a conversation between Henry Jenkins and Suzanne Scott reflecting on Textual Poachers and the fan studies field twenty years later, which provides some further context for the book, and discusses some of the major changes that have occurred in both fandom and fan studies since 1992.
Despite the age of the original text, I think it is still a valuable and useful text for anyone who is interested in the field of fan studies, and is a fascinating read for anyone who considers themself a media fan.
Honestly, I'm kind of glad that I waited to read this book. Textual Poachers was published when internet fandom was in its very early years, so the text primarily concerns the fanzine era of media fandom in the 70's and 80's. I have spent the past two years looking at fanzines and studying their history, and this has given me a much deeper appreciation of and familiarity with the fanzine medium.
The 20th anniversary edition also starts off with a conversation between Henry Jenkins and Suzanne Scott reflecting on Textual Poachers and the fan studies field twenty years later, which provides some further context for the book, and discusses some of the major changes that have occurred in both fandom and fan studies since 1992.
Despite the age of the original text, I think it is still a valuable and useful text for anyone who is interested in the field of fan studies, and is a fascinating read for anyone who considers themself a media fan.