Fan Phenomena: Game of Thrones (Book)

Winter is coming. Every Sunday night, millions of fans gather around their televisions to take in the spectacle that is a new episode of Game of Thrones. Much is made of who will be gruesomely murdered each week on the hit show, though sometimes the question really is who won't die a fiery death. The show, based on the Song of Ice and Fire series written by George R. R. Martin, is a truly global phenomenon. With the seventh season of the HBO series in production, Game of Thrones has been nominated for multiple awards, its cast has been catapulted to celebrity and references to it proliferate throughout popular culture. Often positioned as the grittier antithesis to J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Martin's narrative focuses on the darker side of chivalry and heroism, stripping away these higher ideals to reveal the greed, amorality and lust for power underpinning them. Fan Phenomena: Game of Thrones is an exciting new addition to the Intellect series, bringing together academics and fans of Martin's universe to consider not just the content of the books and HBO series, but fan responses to both. From trivia nights dedicated to minutiae to forums speculating on plot twists to academics trying to make sense of the bizarre climate of Westeros, everyone is talking about Game of Thrones. Edited by Kavita Mudan Finn, the book focuses on the communities created by the books and television series and how these communities envision themselves as consumers, critics, and even creators of fanworks in a wide variety of media, including fiction, art, fancasting and cosplay.

Series: Fan Phenomena

Edition

Winter is coming. Every Sunday night, millions of fans gather around their televisions to take in the spectacle that is a new episode of Game of Thrones. Much is made of who will be gruesomely murdered each week on the hit show, though sometimes the question really is who won’t die a fiery death. The show, based on the Song of Fire and Ice series written by George R. R. Martin, is a truly global phenomenon.

With the seventh season of the HBO series in production, Game of Thrones has been nominated for multiple awards, its cast has been catapulted to celebrity and references to it proliferate throughout popular culture. Often positioned as the grittier antithesis to J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Martin’s narrative focuses on the darker side of chivalry and heroism, stripping away these higher ideals to reveal the greed, amorality and lust for power underpinning them.

Fan Phenomena: Game of Thrones is an exciting new addition to the Intellect series, bringing together academics and fans of Martin’s universe to consider not just the content of the books and HBO series, but fan responses to both. From trivia nights dedicated to minutiae to forums speculating on plot twists to academics trying to make sense of the bizarre climate of Westeros, everyone is talking about Game of Thrones. Edited by Kavita Mudan Finn, the book focuses on the communities created by the books and television series and how these communities envision themselves as consumers, critics and even creators of fanworks in a wide variety of media, including fiction, art, fancasting and cosplay.

Introduction
Kavita Mudan Finn
 
Cosplay of Thrones: Recreating the Costumes of Westeros
Caitlin Postal
 
A Song of Toys and T-Shirts: Game of Thrones and it's Cultural Artefacts
Andrew Howe
 
'Growing Strong': Expanding the Game of Thrones Universe through Fan-Made Merchendizing
Julie Escurignan
Kavita Mudan Finn
Alio Garcia and Linda Antonsson
Amanda GiGioia

Game of Thrones on Kinja
Tracey J. Pennington

Game of Thrones on Meta Tumblr
Kristie Betts Letter
Geeks Who Drink
Jeffrey Chown 
Scholars of the Throne
 
The Watchers on the Wall: Game of Thrones and Online Fan Speculation
Rose Butler
 
Restoring the Balance: Feminist Meta: Texts and the Productivity of Tumblr's Game of Thrones Fans
Briony Linder
 
A Stark by Any Other Name: A Comparative Analysis of A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones Folksonomies
Kristin Linder
 
A Fan's Got to Have a Code: Evolving Perspectives on the Hound's Violence and Sexuality
Beth Walker
 
Colouring Outside the Lines: Social Justice and Fandom
H. Kapp-Klote
 
Unbowed, Unbent, Unaccepted: Disputing Women's Roles in Game of Thrones
Janice Liedl
 
Learn to Fight with Your Other Hand: Game of Thrones as Complicated Champion of Disability
Courtney Stanton
 
Game of Thrones in India: Of Piracy, Queer Intimacies and Viral Memes
Rohit K. Dasgupta
 
By the Old Gods and the New: Daily Interactions with Game of Thrones
Jennifer Crumley and Amy Stavola
 
Geeks of Thrones: Scientists as Fan Scholars
Kristine Larsen

'Through its focus on the cultural phenomenon that is Game of Thrones, Finn’s collection is a timely exploration of the ways in which audiences not just consume but interact with cultural texts in the social media age.'

Aimee Burns, Media Education Journal
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