Fandom, Now in Color gathers together seemingly contradictory narratives that intersect at the (in)visibility of race/ism in fandom and fan studies. This collection engages the problem by undertaking the different tactics of decolonization—diversifying methodologies, destabilizing canons of “must-read” scholarship by engaging with multiple disciplines, making whiteness visible but not the default against which all other kinds of racialization must compete, and decentering white fans even in those fandoms where they are the assumed majority. These new narratives concern themselves with a broad swath of media, from cosplay and comics to tabletop roleplay and video games, and fandoms from Jane the Virgin to Japan’s K-pop scene. Fandom, Now in Color asserts that no one answer or approach can sufficiently come to grips with the shifting categories of race, racism, and racial identity.
“This anthology integrates critical race and postcolonial theory into fan studies, which assumes whiteness as a default, and begins to set standards for a much-needed foundational change that is made more urgent by the current political climate in which overt racism and white supremacy is making a comeback under Trump.”—Robin Anne Reid, Texas A&M University-Commerce
“This collection highlights scholars who are making groundbreaking contributions on race in fan studies. If we are moving toward decolonizing the field, this book will be a great start toward that endeavor in showcasing the quality of critical work being done, and making the issues of race less of a niche subinterest.”—Bertha Chin, coeditor, Crowdfunding the Future: Media Industries, Ethics, and Digital Society
McKenna Boeckner, Angie Fazekas, Monica Flegel, Elizabeth Hornsby, Katherine Anderson Howell, Carina Lapointe, Miranda Ruth Larsen, Judith Leggatt, Jenni Lehtinen, Joan Miller, Swati Moitra, Samira Nadkarni, Indira Neill Hoch, Sam Pack, Rukmini Pande, Deepa Sivarajan, Al Valentín
