Why are Star Trek and Doctor Who so popular? These two science fiction series have both survived cancellation and continue to attract a huge community of fans and followers. Doctor Who has appeared in eight different TV and film guises and Star Trek is now approaching its fourth television incarnation. Science Fiction Audiences examines the continuing popularity of two television institutions' of our time. Through dialogue with fans and followers of Star Trek and
Doctor Who in the US, Britain and Australia, John Tulloch and Henry Jenkins ask what it is about the two series that elicits such strong and active responses from their audiences. Is it their particular intervention into the SF genre? Their expression of peculiarly American' and British' national cultures? Their ideologies and visions of the future, or their conceptions of science and technology? None of these works
in isolation, because, as the plentiful interviews with fans and followers illustrate, audiences actively play with their entertainment according to complex and shifting categories of recognition, competence and pleasure. Science Fiction Audiences responds to a rich fan culture which encompasses debates about fan asthetics, teenage attitudes to science fiction, queers and Star Trek, and ideology and pleasure in Doctor Who. It is a book both for fans of the two series, who
will be able to continue their debates in its pages, and for students of media and cultural studies, offering a historical overview of audience theory in a fascinating synthesis of text, context and audience study.
By:
Henry Jenkins,
John Tulloch
Edited by:
John Tulloch
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 23mm
Weight: 580g
ISBN: 9780415061414
ISBN 10: 0415061415
Series: Popular Fictions Series
Pages: 308
Publication Date: 13 April 1995
Audience:
College/higher education
,
General/trade
,
Professional and scholarly
,
A / AS level
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction Section I 1. Beyond the Star Trek Phenomenon: Reconceptualizing the Science Fiction Audience 2. Positioning the SF Audience: Star Trek, Doctor Who and the Texts of Science Fiction 3. The Changing Audiences of Science Fiction Section II 4. `Throwing a Little Bit of Poison into Future Generations': Doctor Who Audiences and Ideology 5. `It's Meant To Be Fantasy': Teenage Audiences and Genre 6. `But Why is Doctor Who So Attractive': Negotiating Ideology and Pleasure 7. `But He's a Time Lord! He's A Time Lord!': Reading Formations, Followers and Fans 8. `We're Only A Speck In The Ocean': The Fans as Powerless Elite Section III 9. `Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations': Genre and Authorship in Star Trek
Henry Jenkins, John Tulloch
Reviews for Science Fiction Audiences: Watching Star Trek and Doctor Who
`An important contribution to an overlooked area of cultural studies.' - Ian Inglis, Northumbria Univ `A must for all libraries in higher education, schools and larger public libraries.' - Library Review on An Encyclopaedia of Language `A comprehensive and user-friendly publication, easy to get into and once you are in, easy to use. It will remain a unique and invaluable part of the library of any individual or institution.' - Library Association Record on Handbook of Educational Ideas and Practices `Every public library as well as every university, college and school library should have a copy on its shelves.' - Times Higher Education Supplement on An Encyclopaedia of Philosophy `Deserves to find a place in every reference library.' - Times Higher Education Supplement on An Encyclopaedia of the History of Technology `A mine of information. Make sure it is ordered by your local library!.' - Scientific & Medical Network on Companion to the History of Modern Science `An irreplaceable source of reference for many years to come.' - Religious Studies on The Worlds's Religions `A useful and impressive acquisition to any linguist's bookshelf.' - Language Monthly on The World's Major Languages