Professional football is one of the most popular television 'genres' worldwide, attracting millions of fans, and the sponsorship of powerful companies. In A Game of Two Halves, Cornel Sandvoss considers football's relationship with television, its links with transnational capitalism, and the importance of football fandom in forming social and cultural identities around the globe presenting the phenomenon of football as a reflection of postmodern culture and globalization.Through a series of case studies, based on ethnographic audience research, Cornel Sandvoss explores the motivations and pleasures of football fans, the intense bond formed between supporters and their clubs, the implications of football consumption on political discourse and citizenship, football as a factor of cultural globalisation, and the pivotal role of football and television in a postmodern cultural order.

A completely updated edition of a seminal work on fans and communities We are all fans. Whether we follow our favorite celebrities on Twitter, attend fan conventions such as Comic Con, or simply wait with bated breath for the next episode of our favorite television drama-each of us is a fan. Recognizing that fandom is not unusual, but rather a universal subculture, the contributions in this book demonstrate that understanding fans--whether of toys, TV shows, celebrities, comics, music, film, or politicians--is vital to an understanding of media audiences, use, engagement, and participatory culture in a digital age. Including eighteen new, original essays covering topics such as activism directed at racism in sports fandom, fan/producer interactions at Comic Con, the impact of new technologies on fandom, and the politics and legality of fanfic, this wide-ranging collection provides diverse approaches to fandom for anyone seeking to understand modern life in our increasingly mediated, globalized and binge-watching world.

Sports stars are omnipresent icons of popular culture. In the global age of celebrity, few public personae enjoy greater popularity and recognition than professional athletes. Yet, beyond their sporting achievements, athletes - from stars with near-global appeal such as Muhammad Ali or Tiger Woods to local and national sporting heroes - embody and reflect key political, social, and cultural discourses of our time. This anthology investigates sports stardom in its global context across the spectrum of spectator sport: from the quest of Japanese star athletes to exorcise the cultural demons of postwar Japan, to the Mexican pitcher celebrating victory in the first major league baseball game played on Mexican soil; from the naturalization of a Croatian footballer in Israel, to the marginalization of Scottish women curlers at the Winter Olympics. Reflecting this focus, Bodies of Discourse conceptualizes the discourses surrounding sports stars as part of an increasingly transnational and fragmented public sphere and thus traces the economic, social, and cultural roles of these discourses, ranging from nationalism and racism to foreign affairs and sexual politics.

aOne of the best aspects of the text is the way that the contributors do not merely typecast fans as those interested in modern and popular culture, but also examine fans of mediums typically considered ahigh culture.a This makes the book much friendlier to pop-culture fans, whose practices are typically considered low-brow and fanatical when compared to someone who holds season tickets to the opera or visits an art gallery every weekend. As a fan, itas nice to see that the behavior is not reduced to unnecessary fanaticism and is examined on a more subjective level.a
--"M/C Reviews"

"Fandom pushes the boundaries of fan studies in bold directions, incorporating high culture fandoms, global fan cultures, fan technologies, and antagonistic anti-fandom, while rethinking the core tenets of fan studies concerning aesthetics, place, intellectual property, and interpretive communities -- all presented with a lively, accessible, and engaging writing style."
--Jason Mittell, Middlebury College

aIf you're an avid news reader, a holder of season's tickets to the symphony, a frequenter of used bookstores, or even if you've been known to scream at referees during televised games, you're a fan. In this exciting collection, we learn about why it is that certain media narratives, images, sounds, and events engage us emotionally, and what that engagement means for us personally and in our relationships with others in the increasingly global marketplace in which we live.a
--Lynn Schofield Clark, author of" From Angels to Aliens"

aA rich compendium of theory, argument, and observation of a wide variety of types of fandomafrom fans of cultural theory to fans of the Sopranos and ofChekhov, from presidents who are fans of country music to fans of the news. As the active aprosumersa of the digital mediaas niche markets come to be increasingly central to their operation, fan studies shows us the emerging dynamics of how the cultural industries are going to work in the future.a
--David Morley, Goldsmiths College, University of London

We are all fans. Whether we log on to Web sites to scrutinize the latest plot turns in "Lost," "stalk" our favorite celebrities on "Gawker," attend gaming conventions, or simply wait with bated breath for the newest "Harry Potter" novel-each of us is a fan. Fandom extends beyond television and film to literature, opera, sports, and pop music, and encompasses both high and low culture.

Fandom brings together leading scholars to examine fans, their practices, and their favorite texts. This unparalleled selection of original essays examines instances across the spectrum of modern cultural consumption from Karl Marx to Paris Hilton, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to backyard wrestling, Bach fugues to Bollywood cinemaA, and nineteenth-century concert halls to computer gaming. Contributors examine fans of high cultural texts and genres, the spaces of fandom, fandom around the globe, the impact of new technologies on fandom, and the legal and historical contexts of fan activity. Fandom is key to understanding modern life in our increasingly mediated and globalized world.

A completely updated edition of a seminal work on fans and communities We are all fans. Whether we follow our favorite celebrities on Twitter, attend fan conventions such as Comic Con, or simply wait with bated breath for the next episode of our favorite television drama-each of us is a fan. Recognizing that fandom is not unusual, but rather a universal subculture, the contributions in this book demonstrate that understanding fans--whether of toys, TV shows, celebrities, comics, music, film, or politicians--is vital to an understanding of media audiences, use, engagement, and participatory culture in a digital age. Including eighteen new, original essays covering topics such as activism directed at racism in sports fandom, fan/producer interactions at Comic Con, the impact of new technologies on fandom, and the politics and legality of fanfic, this wide-ranging collection provides diverse approaches to fandom for anyone seeking to understand modern life in our increasingly mediated, globalized and binge-watching world.

aOne of the best aspects of the text is the way that the contributors do not merely typecast fans as those interested in modern and popular culture, but also examine fans of mediums typically considered ahigh culture.a This makes the book much friendlier to pop-culture fans, whose practices are typically considered low-brow and fanatical when compared to someone who holds season tickets to the opera or visits an art gallery every weekend. As a fan, itas nice to see that the behavior is not reduced to unnecessary fanaticism and is examined on a more subjective level.a
--"M/C Reviews"

"Fandom pushes the boundaries of fan studies in bold directions, incorporating high culture fandoms, global fan cultures, fan technologies, and antagonistic anti-fandom, while rethinking the core tenets of fan studies concerning aesthetics, place, intellectual property, and interpretive communities -- all presented with a lively, accessible, and engaging writing style."
--Jason Mittell, Middlebury College

aIf you're an avid news reader, a holder of season's tickets to the symphony, a frequenter of used bookstores, or even if you've been known to scream at referees during televised games, you're a fan. In this exciting collection, we learn about why it is that certain media narratives, images, sounds, and events engage us emotionally, and what that engagement means for us personally and in our relationships with others in the increasingly global marketplace in which we live.a
--Lynn Schofield Clark, author of" From Angels to Aliens"

aA rich compendium of theory, argument, and observation of a wide variety of types of fandomafrom fans of cultural theory to fans of the Sopranos and ofChekhov, from presidents who are fans of country music to fans of the news. As the active aprosumersa of the digital mediaas niche markets come to be increasingly central to their operation, fan studies shows us the emerging dynamics of how the cultural industries are going to work in the future.a
--David Morley, Goldsmiths College, University of London

We are all fans. Whether we log on to Web sites to scrutinize the latest plot turns in "Lost," "stalk" our favorite celebrities on "Gawker," attend gaming conventions, or simply wait with bated breath for the newest "Harry Potter" novel-each of us is a fan. Fandom extends beyond television and film to literature, opera, sports, and pop music, and encompasses both high and low culture.

Fandom brings together leading scholars to examine fans, their practices, and their favorite texts. This unparalleled selection of original essays examines instances across the spectrum of modern cultural consumption from Karl Marx to Paris Hilton, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to backyard wrestling, Bach fugues to Bollywood cinemaA, and nineteenth-century concert halls to computer gaming. Contributors examine fans of high cultural texts and genres, the spaces of fandom, fandom around the globe, the impact of new technologies on fandom, and the legal and historical contexts of fan activity. Fandom is key to understanding modern life in our increasingly mediated and globalized world.