Mark Duffett
Biographic Data
| ID | 979456 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mark Duffett |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mark |
| FAMILY NAME | Duffett |
| SIGNATURE | DUFFETT M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Chester |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9879-4707 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Understanding Which Fandom? Insights from Two Decades as a Music Fan Researcher
As researchers, when we study media fandom, are we all studying the same thing? This chapter examines how disciplinary boundaries have shaped the author's research trajectory as a music fandom researcher. As part of this it surveys responses to his more general textbook, Understanding Fandom (2013). It is argued that although we would benefit, as fandom scholars, from becoming more aware of the specificity of our fannish objects and existing disc…
I Scream Therefore I Fan
Fannish identities and scholarly responsibilities
Fans will welcome someone they can identify as a fellow fan, but we must then weigh our relationships with those research subjects against an appropriately critical scholarly approach. It is more crucial that scholars have a respectful relationship to the human research subjects with whom they interact, and a progressive aim in mind for their research. Fan scholarship that engages in the aesthetics or forms of fan production definitely ought to b…
Celebrity
In the aftermath of decades of commentary about fans as exemplars of the mass audience, almost three decades ago a pair of publications on the subject dominated the popular discussion. As a subject matter in fan studies, the hegemony of telefantasy drew attention to the interaction between serial television programming and its fans. However, fandom is a very wide-ranging socio-cultural phenomenon. While the participatory culture tradition has bee…
Trading Offstage Photos
The trading of offstage photographs formed a living culture in the 1990s, and its material trace had an interesting relationship to music heritage. Popular music heritage is evidently a complex and empirically variable phenomenon. Different formations of heritage may indicate that there is an issue over just how meaningful authorized popular music heritage discourses are in terms of how individuals celebrate and curate their own musical memories.…
Elvis' Gospel Music
Do fans sanctify their heroes? In the past, I have argued that Elvis fandom is not a neo-religious practice but that attention to a modified version of Durkheim's theory of religion can, nevertheless, help to explain it as a form of social interaction. I take that argument further here, first by revealing the ethical and analytical advantages of neo-Durkheimian theory, then by pitting this theory against three aspects of Elvis' sincere engagement…
Fan Practices
Popular Music Fandom
Social cues, such as eye gaze and pointing fingers, can increase the prioritisation of specific locations for cognitive processing.A previous study using a manual reaching task showed that, although both gaze and pointing cues altered target prioritisation (reaction times [RTs]), only pointing cues affected action execution (trajectory deviations).These differential effects of gaze and pointing cues on action execution could be because the gaze c…
Understanding Fandom
Fans used to be seen as an overly obsessed fraction of the audience. In the last few decades, shifts in media technology and production have instead made fandom a central mode of consumption. A range of ideas has emerged to explore different facets of this growing phenomenon. With a foreword by Matt Hills, Understanding Fandom introduces the whole field of fan research by looking at the history of debate, key paradigms and methodological issues. …
Introduction
With exceptions such as the work of Daniel Cavicchi, the analysis of fans, as opposed to subcultures or scenes, is a relatively new area of research in popular music studies. All too often music sc
Multiple damnations
While the boy band genre has mutated and evolved, its popular portrayal has altered little since groups like New Edition and New Kids on the Block conquered the charts back in the late 1980s. After examining recent critical commentaries from Facebook-based ‘anti-fans’ and music critic Paul Morley, the article suggests that four discourses—youth, exploitation, gender and fandom— interlock to determine how commentators discuss the genre. Collective…
Fear Nothing
As the publishing industry seeks new ways to reach a consumer marketplace, popular music icons are increasingly being used as a hook to theme philosophical books offering life lessons on self-help, economic success and spirituality. 50 Cent's The 50th Law is a compendium of strategy that reinforces the rapper's image as a business man who happens to make hip hop. It equips readers with a specific mindset of entrepreneurialism for an era of flexib…
We Are Interrupted by Your Noise”
Heckling has rarely been examined in popular music studies. The argument of this piece is that audience members heckle in an attempt to alter the balance of power in live musical performance. To understand this I introduce the idea of the "symbolic economy," a framework of assumptions and interpretations held by audience members that gives stars their social value. My argument is that each musician's aura is perceived when his or her performance …
A "Strange Blooding in the Ways of Popular Culture"? Party at the Palace as Hegemonic Project
"Imagined Memories Webcasting as a "live' technology and the case of Little Big Gig
Most discussions of popular music on the Internet focus on the utopian potential of new file-sharing technologies, yet applications that reproduce existing inequalities also deserve attention. Webcasting is the streaming (transmission) of digital video to multiple recipients in cyberspace. Paul McCartney's Webcast from the Cavern was a landmark case. It was a digital package staged for reproduction, and yet it felt live; in this article I explore…
False Faith or False Comparison? A Critique of the Religious Interpretation of Elvis Fan Culture
In her 1999 book Elvis Culture, Erika Doss became the latest academic to argue that Elvis fandom is best understood as a secular form of religion. Since Elvis Culture is based on four years’ contact with American devotees, and since fans occasionally use spiritual words to express their feelings, Doss’s claim that “veneration of Elvis is one strong form of religiosity” is hard to dismiss (75). Nevertheless, this article will argue that the religi…
Caught in a trap? Beyond pop theory's 'butch' construction of male Elvis fans
Common knowledge has it that Elvis Presley stood for sexual liberation - because his gyrations caused the first controversy, he liberated Western culture from the curse of sexual repression. Beyond the female fans that play a role in that image, Elvis has a vast number of male followers. With more than 20,000 members, the Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain (OEPFC) is the largest fan club in the world. According to the president, hal…
Transcending audience generalizations
Going down like a song
On 1 July 1992 over 100,000 people assembled in various locations across Canada to see their favourite bands play live at the Great Canadian Party. Broadcast on television and radio, this Canada Day spectacle celebrated the country's 125th birthday, but rather than being organised by the state or a non-profit making citizen's movement, it was facilitated by more than $100,000 of corporate sponsorship. Drawing on fieldwork in Vancouver, I will arg…
False Faith or False Comparison? A Critique of the Religious Interpretation of Elvis Fan Culture
In her 1999 book Elvis Culture, Erika Doss became the latest academic to argue that Elvis fandom is best understood as a secular form of religion. Since Elvis Culture is based on four years’ contact with American devotees, and since fans occasionally use spiritual words to express their feelings, Doss’s claim that “veneration of Elvis is one strong form of religiosity” is hard to dismiss (75). Nevertheless, this article will argue that the religi…
Multiple damnations
While the boy band genre has mutated and evolved, its popular portrayal has altered little since groups like New Edition and New Kids on the Block conquered the charts back in the late 1980s. After examining recent critical commentaries from Facebook-based ‘anti-fans’ and music critic Paul Morley, the article suggests that four discourses—youth, exploitation, gender and fandom— interlock to determine how commentators discuss the genre. Collective…
Introduction
With exceptions such as the work of Daniel Cavicchi, the analysis of fans, as opposed to subcultures or scenes, is a relatively new area of research in popular music studies. All too often music sc
We Are Interrupted by Your Noise”
Heckling has rarely been examined in popular music studies. The argument of this piece is that audience members heckle in an attempt to alter the balance of power in live musical performance. To understand this I introduce the idea of the "symbolic economy," a framework of assumptions and interpretations held by audience members that gives stars their social value. My argument is that each musician's aura is perceived when his or her performance …
Fan Practices
Caught in a trap? Beyond pop theory's 'butch' construction of male Elvis fans
Common knowledge has it that Elvis Presley stood for sexual liberation - because his gyrations caused the first controversy, he liberated Western culture from the curse of sexual repression. Beyond the female fans that play a role in that image, Elvis has a vast number of male followers. With more than 20,000 members, the Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain (OEPFC) is the largest fan club in the world. According to the president, hal…
Transcending audience generalizations
Going down like a song
On 1 July 1992 over 100,000 people assembled in various locations across Canada to see their favourite bands play live at the Great Canadian Party. Broadcast on television and radio, this Canada Day spectacle celebrated the country's 125th birthday, but rather than being organised by the state or a non-profit making citizen's movement, it was facilitated by more than $100,000 of corporate sponsorship. Drawing on fieldwork in Vancouver, I will arg…
A "Strange Blooding in the Ways of Popular Culture"? Party at the Palace as Hegemonic Project
Transcending audience generalizations
Going down like a song
On 1 July 1992 over 100,000 people assembled in various locations across Canada to see their favourite bands play live at the Great Canadian Party. Broadcast on television and radio, this Canada Day spectacle celebrated the country's 125th birthday, but rather than being organised by the state or a non-profit making citizen's movement, it was facilitated by more than $100,000 of corporate sponsorship. Drawing on fieldwork in Vancouver, I will arg…
Caught in a trap? Beyond pop theory's 'butch' construction of male Elvis fans
Common knowledge has it that Elvis Presley stood for sexual liberation - because his gyrations caused the first controversy, he liberated Western culture from the curse of sexual repression. Beyond the female fans that play a role in that image, Elvis has a vast number of male followers. With more than 20,000 members, the Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain (OEPFC) is the largest fan club in the world. According to the president, hal…
"Imagined Memories Webcasting as a "live' technology and the case of Little Big Gig
Most discussions of popular music on the Internet focus on the utopian potential of new file-sharing technologies, yet applications that reproduce existing inequalities also deserve attention. Webcasting is the streaming (transmission) of digital video to multiple recipients in cyberspace. Paul McCartney's Webcast from the Cavern was a landmark case. It was a digital package staged for reproduction, and yet it felt live; in this article I explore…
False Faith or False Comparison? A Critique of the Religious Interpretation of Elvis Fan Culture
In her 1999 book Elvis Culture, Erika Doss became the latest academic to argue that Elvis fandom is best understood as a secular form of religion. Since Elvis Culture is based on four years’ contact with American devotees, and since fans occasionally use spiritual words to express their feelings, Doss’s claim that “veneration of Elvis is one strong form of religiosity” is hard to dismiss (75). Nevertheless, this article will argue that the religi…
A "Strange Blooding in the Ways of Popular Culture"? Party at the Palace as Hegemonic Project
We Are Interrupted by Your Noise”
Heckling has rarely been examined in popular music studies. The argument of this piece is that audience members heckle in an attempt to alter the balance of power in live musical performance. To understand this I introduce the idea of the "symbolic economy," a framework of assumptions and interpretations held by audience members that gives stars their social value. My argument is that each musician's aura is perceived when his or her performance …
Fear Nothing
As the publishing industry seeks new ways to reach a consumer marketplace, popular music icons are increasingly being used as a hook to theme philosophical books offering life lessons on self-help, economic success and spirituality. 50 Cent's The 50th Law is a compendium of strategy that reinforces the rapper's image as a business man who happens to make hip hop. It equips readers with a specific mindset of entrepreneurialism for an era of flexib…
Popular Music Fandom
Social cues, such as eye gaze and pointing fingers, can increase the prioritisation of specific locations for cognitive processing.A previous study using a manual reaching task showed that, although both gaze and pointing cues altered target prioritisation (reaction times [RTs]), only pointing cues affected action execution (trajectory deviations).These differential effects of gaze and pointing cues on action execution could be because the gaze c…
Understanding Fandom
Fans used to be seen as an overly obsessed fraction of the audience. In the last few decades, shifts in media technology and production have instead made fandom a central mode of consumption. A range of ideas has emerged to explore different facets of this growing phenomenon. With a foreword by Matt Hills, Understanding Fandom introduces the whole field of fan research by looking at the history of debate, key paradigms and methodological issues. …
Introduction
With exceptions such as the work of Daniel Cavicchi, the analysis of fans, as opposed to subcultures or scenes, is a relatively new area of research in popular music studies. All too often music sc
Multiple damnations
While the boy band genre has mutated and evolved, its popular portrayal has altered little since groups like New Edition and New Kids on the Block conquered the charts back in the late 1980s. After examining recent critical commentaries from Facebook-based ‘anti-fans’ and music critic Paul Morley, the article suggests that four discourses—youth, exploitation, gender and fandom— interlock to determine how commentators discuss the genre. Collective…
Fan Practices
Trading Offstage Photos
The trading of offstage photographs formed a living culture in the 1990s, and its material trace had an interesting relationship to music heritage. Popular music heritage is evidently a complex and empirically variable phenomenon. Different formations of heritage may indicate that there is an issue over just how meaningful authorized popular music heritage discourses are in terms of how individuals celebrate and curate their own musical memories.…
Elvis' Gospel Music
Do fans sanctify their heroes? In the past, I have argued that Elvis fandom is not a neo-religious practice but that attention to a modified version of Durkheim's theory of religion can, nevertheless, help to explain it as a form of social interaction. I take that argument further here, first by revealing the ethical and analytical advantages of neo-Durkheimian theory, then by pitting this theory against three aspects of Elvis' sincere engagement…
Celebrity
In the aftermath of decades of commentary about fans as exemplars of the mass audience, almost three decades ago a pair of publications on the subject dominated the popular discussion. As a subject matter in fan studies, the hegemony of telefantasy drew attention to the interaction between serial television programming and its fans. However, fandom is a very wide-ranging socio-cultural phenomenon. While the participatory culture tradition has bee…
Fannish identities and scholarly responsibilities
Fans will welcome someone they can identify as a fellow fan, but we must then weigh our relationships with those research subjects against an appropriately critical scholarly approach. It is more crucial that scholars have a respectful relationship to the human research subjects with whom they interact, and a progressive aim in mind for their research. Fan scholarship that engages in the aesthetics or forms of fan production definitely ought to b…
Understanding Which Fandom? Insights from Two Decades as a Music Fan Researcher
As researchers, when we study media fandom, are we all studying the same thing? This chapter examines how disciplinary boundaries have shaped the author's research trajectory as a music fandom researcher. As part of this it surveys responses to his more general textbook, Understanding Fandom (2013). It is argued that although we would benefit, as fandom scholars, from becoming more aware of the specificity of our fannish objects and existing disc…
I Scream Therefore I Fan
Art (14 works) · Music History and Culture (14 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Media studies (11 works) · Asian Culture and Media Studies (8 works) · Advertising (7 works) · Aesthetics (7 works) · Business (6 works) · Gender, Feminism, and Media (6 works) · Political science (6 works)