Squee from the Margins: Fandom and Race

Rukmini Pande's ground-breaking examination of race in fan studies is sure to make an immediate contribution to the growing field. Until now, virtually no sustained examination of race-and racism-in transnational fan cultures has taken place, a lack that is especially ironic since current fan spaces have never been more vocal about debating issues of privilege and discrimination. Pande's study challenges dominant ideas of who fans are and how these complex transnational/cultural spaces function, expanding the scope of the field significantly. The study's theoretical mapping, in a departure from conventional fandom studies, positions media fandom as a postcolonial cyberspace. This is a significant move as it illustrates how innovative modes of analysis can impel scholars to take a more inclusive view of fan identity. By including fan interviews, Pande's analysis spans both the historical and the contemporary moment to build a case for the ways in which non-white fans have always been present in such spaces, though consistently ignored.