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Science fiction fandom

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Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is the community of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy literature, and in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although clubs such as the Futurians [1937-1945], the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society [1934-present], and the National Fantasy Fan Federation [1941-present] are recognized features of fandom).

Most often called simply "fandom" within the community, it can be viewed as a distinct subculture, with its own rituals and jargon; marriages and other relationships among fans are common, as are multi-generation fannish families.

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Origins and history

Science fiction fandom started through the letter column of Hugo Gernsback's fiction magazines. Not only did fans write comments about the stories — they sent their addresses, and Gernsback published them. Soon, fans were writing letters directly to each other, and meeting in person when they lived close together, or when one of them could manage a trip. (Travel was harder in the 1930s than it is today.)

In 1934 Gernsback established a correspondence club for fans called the Science Fiction League, the first fannish organization. Local groups across the nation could join by filling out an application.

Soon after the fans started to communicate directly with each other came the creation of fanzines (see also science fiction fanzines). These amateur publications might or might not discuss science fiction, and were generally traded rather than sold. They ranged from the utilitarian and/or inept to professional-quality printing and editing. In recent years, Usenet newsgroups such as rec.arts.sf.fandom, websites and blogs have somewhat supplanted printed fanzines as an outlet for expression in fandom, though many popular fanzines continue to be published.

Many professional science fiction authors started their interest in science fiction as fans, and some still publish their own fanzines or contribute to those published by others.

A widely regarded history of fandom in the 1930s can be found in Sam Moskowitz's "The Immortal Storm: A history of Science Fiction Fandom" Hyperion Press 1988 ISBN 0883551314 (original edition The Atlanta Science Fiction Organization Press, Atlanta, Georgia 1954).

Conventions

See main article Science fiction conventions
Since the late 1930s, SF fans have organized conventions, non-profit gatherings where the fans (some of whom are also professionals in the field) meet to discuss SF and generally enjoy themselves. (A few fannish couples have held their weddings at conventions.) The first World Science Fiction Convention or Worldcon was held in conjunction with the 1939 New York World's Fair, and has been held annually since the end of World War II. Worldcon has been the premier convention in fandom for over half a century; it is at this convention that the Hugo Awards are bestowed, and attendance can approach 8,000 or more. 
SF conventions can vary from minimalist "relaxacons" with a hundred or so attendees to heavily programmed events with four to six or more simultaneous tracks of programming, such as WisCon. The largest of these is the annual Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia with an attendance of more than 20,000 since 2000. 


Commercial shows dealing with SF-related fields are sometimes billed as 'science fiction conventions,' but are operated as for-profit ventures, with an orientation towards passive spectators, rather than actively involved fans, and a tendency to neglect or ignore written SF in favor of television, film, comics, video games, etc.



Science fiction societies



See Category



Science Fiction Societies were launched as chapters of the Science Fiction League and when it faded into history, several of the original League chapters remained viable and were subsequently incorporated as independent organizations. Most notably among former League chapters spun off was the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society which served as model for subsequent SF Societies formed independent of the League history. 


Science Fiction Societies, more commonly referred to as "clubs" except on the most formal of occasions, form a year-round base of activities for science fiction fans. They are often associated with a SF convention or group of conventions, but maintain a separate existence as a cultural institution within a geographic region. Several have purchased property and maintain ongoing collections of SF literature available for research as in the case of Los Angeles Science Fiction Society, New England Science Fiction Association, and the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Other SF Societies maintain a more informal existence meeting at general public facilities or the homes of individual members.



Offshoots and subcommunities


Fandom encompasses subsets of fans that are principally interested in a single writer or genre, such as Tolkien fandom,  (whose more active members are better known as "Trekkers" or "Trekkies" by the rest of fandom), and the fans of Joss Whedon's Firefly television series and movie Serenity known as Browncoats.


Filk singing and the Society for Creative Anachronism both originated among science fiction fans.


Participation in science fiction fandom often overlaps with other similar interests, such as fantasy role-playing games, comic books and anime, and in the broadest sense fans of these activities are felt to be part of the greater community of SF fandom.  


There are active SF fandoms around the world.  Fandom in non-Anglophone countries such as Poland, Japan, Sweden, and Germany is based partially on local literature and media, with cons and all other elements resembling those of English-speaking fandom.



Fanspeak

Science fiction and fantasy fandom has its own slang or jargon, sometimes called fanspeak.


Fanspeak is made of up acronyms, blended words, obscure in-jokes, and standard terms used in specific ways. Some terms used in fanspeak have spread to members of the Society for Creative Anachronism,  Renaissance Fair participants, and internet gaming and chat fans, due to the social and contextual intersection between the communities.  Examples of fanspeak used in these broader fannish communities include gafiate, a term meaning to drop out of SF related community activities, with the implication to Get A Life. The word is derived via the acronym for "Get away from it all". 
A related term is fafiate, for "Forced away from it all". The implication is that one would really rather still be involved in fandom, but circumstances make it impossible.


Two other acronyms commonly used in the community are FIAWOL (Fandom Is A Way Of Life) and its opposite FIJAGH (Fandom Is Just A Goddamned Hobby) to describe two ways of looking at the place of fandom in one's life.



Figures in the history of fandom





See also



External links













 




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