When it comes to "fandom," many people may have a hard time giving a clear definition of a niche culture that is just a self-contained niche culture. But if you mention some novels, games, quadratic elements, and peripheral goods, you may suddenly realize that these are all fandoms.
For a long time, our lives have long been infiltrated by fan culture, but we lack a unified understanding of it, which also makes the mainstream of fan culture extremely difficult, facing all kinds of confusion and challenges.
Breaking this dilemma is becoming the cognition and action of more and more people. On December 17th, NetEase LOFTER, a youth cultural interest content community, held a "Rush to Love and Light" fan culture theme salon, where relevant leaders, cultural scholars, IP parties, and fan creators of the China Writers Association Network Literature Research Institute gathered together to discuss the understanding and suggestions of fan culture from all perspectives, in order to promote the standardized construction of fandom creation, improve the ecological environment of niche culture, and let every interest and culture be seen by the public.
From symbiosis to win-win, fandom has become a world cultural phenomenon
In recent years, the topic of fandom creation has entered the mainstream vision from the relatively niche subculture circle and attracted the attention of all parties in society. On the same day, Xiao Jinghong, vice president of the Institute of Online Literature of the China Writers Association, as the opening guest, brought the theme sharing of "Fan Creation and Online Literature: From Symbiosis to Win-Win".
As a senior expert in the field of Chinese online literature, she pays great attention to fandom creation, and has also explored the development process and social value of doujinshi in the article "Fandom creation and online literature: from symbiosis to win-win" published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Literature Network.
Xiao Jinghong pointed out that fandom creation, especially online literature fandom creation, has become an important cultural phenomenon at present. In classical literature, such as the Tale of the West Chamber and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, they can be classified as fan creations. When discussing fandom creation, society should face up to the objectivity and subjectivity of fanworks at the same time, and should not deal with the copyright issue of fanworks with colored glasses.
At the same time, she also proposed that fan works have important social value. "At this stage, the training of writing skills in the education system, the filtering of the network environment in which Gen Z is located, and other factors are important prerequisites for the prosperity of fan works at present." In Xiao Jinghong's view, the prosperity of fandom creation will not only play a positive role in the benign development of the cultural industry, but also has positive literary value and social significance. Therefore, improving the copyright protection of fan works and establishing the legal status of fan works are of great practical significance to the prosperity of online literature and the literary and artistic forms of the new era, and will also have a broad and far-reaching social impact.
Xiao was shocked
When we talk about fandom, what else can we talk about
Nowadays, in addition to fandom, fan culture has also developed various thematic forms, which has become an important part of influencing culture and entertainment.
In this roundtable, LOFTER invited representatives of Yien Data, the founder of IP "Bump World" and lawyers who pay attention to intellectual property rights to contribute to the fan culture from different perspectives.
As one of the producers of the industry's first first fandom market research report, Liu Cuiping, deputy general manager of Yien Data Solution Center, shared the core content of the "Secondary Derivative Creation Industry Report".
According to reports, this report has made a quantitative analysis of the market status, platform model, creation form, industry value, etc. of two-dimensional fandom creation, and started from key players such as enthusiasts, creators and IP parties to analyze the market demand and expectations of different roles, and pointed out the current market controversy while also putting forward some corresponding suggestions.
As the original IP of Seven Creation Society, the animation "Bump World" has achieved great success among young people. By the end of 2021, the total number of animation plays in the three seasons has exceeded 400 million times, the number of douyin topics has exceeded 1 billion times, and the number of comic clicks has exceeded 200 million times, ranking the top of the two-dimensional popular creation list for a longer period of time.
Qu Xiaodan, founder of Qichuang Society, said that it is the fans' love for the work that pushes "Bump World" into a new "fan wonder". He pointed out that the success of original IP is inseparable from the quality of creation, but also inseparable from the support and co-creation of the public, and whether the FAN CULTURE of IP can succeed is also the premise of IP to achieve multi-dimensional incubation and sustained popularity.
Love, controversy and the future in the fan world
On the same day, a number of fan creators Naran, Zhuge and cartoonists Nyan Twenty, RC and Wash Ball came to the scene to participate in the roundtable discussion.
For these creators who either take fandom creation as a hobby, or have engaged in full-time creative work, exporting a variety of content covering literature, comics and other forms, the fandom has given them the nickname of "wife". Through their own experiences and perspectives, they also convey the thinking of fan creators to the society - "How long can our love last?" Where will it go? ”
Creators round table
When asked what fandom means to creators and enthusiasts, creators have different expressions, some see their potential in their creation, while others make it an opportunity for them to maintain their love of life.
When asked about the circle culture and problems seen from the perspective of fan creators, creators raised their own concerns: Is their creation legal and compliant? Can fandom become a way of life? These issues are also a common concern of fandom creators.
Now, many excellent fan-created works are not only a reference to the original IP, but also give the characters a new personality, a new story, and trigger new resonance, in fact, this already has a strong originality. Many fan creators have also gradually embarked on the road of originality from the second creation, and they very much hope that the society can give more support and protection to the fan creators.
Hearing the voices of "wives", the relevant person in charge of LOFTER also responded that in the future, it will continue to encourage the diversity of creation, enrich IP content, encourage exchanges with friends, help the development of derivative works, and provide the greatest creative and exchange space for fans of different IP, "Hoping to work together with all walks of life to build a new ecology of fan culture and help fan culture to move towards a more mainstream market." ”