From Imagined Communities to Contact Zones

Abstract

This chapter critiques fan studies’ work that has treated fandom as made up of cohesive “imagined communities.” Instead, it explores a “contact zones” model of transatlantic media fandoms. Examining fan accounts of “American monoculture,” it considers how practices of “Britpicking” in fan fiction communities assert the need for allegedly “authentic” fans to engage with the presumed cultural specificity of shows such as Sherlock (despite this being a UK-US coproduction). Britpicking thus occurs alongside “Brit-fixing,” where transnational TV drama is problematically recontextualized by fans as nationally “authentic.” Furthermore, “Ameri-picking” happens around US shows such as Supernatural when fanfic is written by non-Americans, while US fans also seek to distance themselves from imputed American monoculture, demonstrating that this is akin to “mainstream” versus “subcultural” distinctions. Finally, the chapter complicates assumptions of transatlantic fandom as a US-UK system of meaning by exploring the cultural positionings of Canadian fans of the UK soap opera Coronation Street.

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