{"product_id":"fandom-for-us-by-us-the-pleasures-and-practices-of-black-audiences-9781479824922","title":"Fandom for Us, by Us: The Pleasures and Practices of Black Audiences","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe convergence of the politics of representation and Black fan cultures\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBoldly going where few fandom scholars have gone before, \u003ci\u003eFandom for Us, by Us\u003c\/i\u003e breaks from our focus on white fandom to center Black fandoms. Alfred L. Martin, Jr., engages these fandoms through what he calls the \"four C's\" class, clout, canon, and comfort. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eClass is a key component of how Black fandom is contingent on distinctions between white, nationally recognized cultural productions and multicultural and\/or regional cultural productions, as demonstrated by Misty Copeland's ascension in American Ballet Theatre. Clout refers to Black fans' realization of their own consumer spending power as an agent for industrial change, reducing the precarity of Blackness within historically white cultural apparatuses and facilitating the production of Black blockbusters like 2018's \u003ci\u003eBlack Panther\u003c\/i\u003e. Canon entails a communal fannish practice of sharing media objects, like the 1978 film \u003ci\u003eThe Wiz\u003c\/i\u003e, which lead them to take on meanings outside of their original context. Comfort describes the nostalgic and sentimental affects associated with beloved fan objects such as the television show, \u003ci\u003eGolden Girls\u003c\/i\u003e, connected to notions of Black joy and signaling moments wherein Black people can just be themselves. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough 75 in-depth interviews with Black fans, \u003ci\u003eFandom for Us, by Us\u003c\/i\u003e argues not only for the importance of studying Black fandoms, but also demonstrates their complexities by both coupling and decoupling Black reception practices from the politics of representation. Martin highlights the nuanced ways Black fans interact with media representations, suggesting class, clout, canon, and comfort are universal to the study of all fandoms. Yet, for all the ways these fandoms are similar and reciprocal, Black fandoms are also their own set of practices, demanding their own study.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlfred L. Martin, Jr\u003c\/b\u003e., is Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Cinematic Arts at University of Miami. He is author of The \u003ci\u003eGeneric Closet: Black Gayness and the Black-Cast Sitcom\u003c\/i\u003e, editor of \u003ci\u003eRolling: Blackness and Mediated Comedy\u003c\/i\u003e, and co-editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"New York University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51243850203410,"sku":"9781479824922","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3029dede-11ba-44de-9d3e-6b1591ae3051.jpg?v=1745873057","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/fandom-for-us-by-us-the-pleasures-and-practices-of-black-audiences-9781479824922","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}