Opposed and yet in some ways similar to the fan is the antifan: he or she who actively and vocally hates or dislikes a given text, personality, or genre. By studying antifan discussion and postings at the Web site Television Without Pity, this article examines antifan interaction with the television text. Focusing on the ensuing splintering of this text into aesthetic, moral, and rational-realistic dimensions, it is argued that antifan engagement with television forces a reevaluation of existing assumptions of textual ontology and of audience behavior and consumption.
Abercrombie, N., & Longhurst, B. (1998). Audiences: A sociological theory of performance and imagination. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
2.
Alters, D. (2003). “We hardly watch that rude, crude show”: Class and taste in The Simpsons. In C.A. Stabile & M. T. Harrison (Eds.), Prime time animation: Television animation and American culture (pp. 165-184). New York: Routledge.
3.
Bacon-Smith, C. (1992). Enterprising women. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
4.
Baird, R. M., Loges, W. E., & Rosenbaum, S. E. (Eds.). (1999). The media and morality. Amherst, NY: Prometheus.
5.
Barker, M., Arthurs, J., & Harindranath, R. (2001). The Crash controversy: Censorship campaigns and film reception. New York: Wallflower.
6.
Baym, N. K. (2000). Tune in, log on: Soaps, fandom, and online community. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
7.
Bird, S. E. (2003). The audience in everyday life: Living in a media world. New York: Routledge.
8.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgment of taste (R. Nice, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1979)
9.
Brooker, W. (2002). Using the force: Creativity, community and Star Wars fans. New York: Continuum.
10.
Brower, S. (1992). Fans as tastemakers: Viewers for quality television. In L. Lewis (Ed.), The adoring audience: Fan culture and popular media (pp. 163-184). New York: Routledge.
11.
Dyer, R. (1979). Stars. London: BFI.
12.
Ebert, R. (1999). The bigger little book of Hollywood cliches. London: Virgin.
13.
Fiske, J. (1989a). Moments of television: Neither the text nor the audience. In E. Seiter, H. Borchers, G. Kreutzner, & E. Warth (Eds.), Remote control: Television, audiences, and cultural power (pp. 56-78). New York: Routledge.
14.
Fiske, J. (1989b). Reading the popular. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
15.
Fiske, J. (1989c). Understanding popular culture. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
16.
Gray, J. (2003). New audiences, new textualities: Anti-fans and non-fans. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 6(1), 64-81.
17.
Grossberg, L. (1992). Is there a fan in the house? The affective sensibility of fandom. In L. Lewis (Ed.), The adoring audience: Fanculture and popular media (pp.50-65). New York:Routledge.
18.
Harrington, C. L., & Bielby, D. D. (1995). Soap fans: Pursuing pleasure and making meaning in everyday life. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
19.
Hills, M. (2002). Fan cultures. New York: Routledge.
20.
Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual poachers: Television fans and participating culture. New York: Routledge.
21.
Jenkins, H. (2002). Interactive audiences? In D. Harries (Ed.), The new media book (pp. 157-170). London: BFI.
22.
Jones, S. G. (1998). Doing Internet research: Critical issues and methods for examining the Net. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
23.
Levy, P. (2000). Collective intelligence: Mankind’s emerging world in cyberspace (R. Bononno, Trans.). Boulder, CO: Perseus. (Original work published 1997)
24.
Lewis, L. (Ed.). (1992). The adoring audience: Fan culture and popular media. New York: Routledge.
25.
Meikle, G. (2002). Future active: Media activism and the Internet. New York: Routledge.
26.
Mellancamp, P. (1990). TV time and catastrophe, or beyond the pleasure principle of television. In P. Mellancamp (Ed.), Logics of television: Essays in cultural criticism (pp. 240-266). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
27.
Mittell, J. (2004). Genre and television: From cop shows to cartoons in American culture. New York: Routledge.
28.
Penley, C. (1997). NASA/TREK: Popular science and sex in America. London: Verso.
29.
Silverstone, R. (1994). Television and everyday life. New York: Routledge.
30.
Tester, K. (2001). Compassion, morality, and the media. Philadelphia: Open University Press.
31.
Walls, J. (2004, April). Fans want to wash Omarosa right out of their hair. MSNBC. Retrieved May 30, 2004, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4609983/
