Notes on Henry Jenkins’ “Textual Poachers”

This book discusses fandom culture, focusing on media fandom–where the research is on followers of film and television rather than sports or music. That said, Jenkins does have a chapter on the music that grows from media fandom. He focuses on the discourse between fan groups and the text of a show, drawing most of his examples from Star Trek and Trekkies. He borrows from Michel de Certeau’s criticism about the “scriptural economy” of “multiple voices” battling over “mastery of language” about how a fanbase can make a text their own once they begin interacting with it. This then creates a semiotic tug-of-war over meaning and purpose between signifier and signified.

Essentially, a text has multiple ways to add an ur-texts, the most famous being fan fiction. Yet it is more than this; the creation of cons (conventions centered around a niche theme) as well as fan artwork allow texts to become scaffolding in which other art is built. With the internet, this can change the original text in real time, as seen with shows like Lost and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The “textual poachers” became those who also planted the seeds. This happens more in the age of social media and smart phones, but fan fiction and fan art still are more a reaction to more so than an addition to.

The term “textual poacher” should not get confused with “misreader” because the fans are appropriating, not misinterpreting the text, which is an important distinction. Jenkins explains that, over time, the increase in fan cultures has made this distinction less necessary because fandom is better understood and accepted. But there was a time when fans had to fight for a voice of legitimacy. He cites Ang Lee’s article about Dallas that explains how critics of a show are often in a much more prime position to voice their opinion than fans. The ground has begun to tilt, largely because the internet allows for fans to retreat to their respective corners. But also fandom cultures beyond just the media fandom Jenkins explores have grown and become normalized through shows like The Big Bang Theory and mediums such as Twitter.