by Stacy Lee Kong
A timely and intriguing look at parasocial relationships as a growing social phenomenon, how it has affected the world from labour to commerce to politics since the start of the 2020s, and what this may mean for the future.
Before 2020, fandom was predominantly understood as a cultural phenomenon centred aroundthe entertainment sphere. Fuelled by a pandemic that took our lives mostly online, juxtaposed with conditions that highlighted growing income inequality, an similar imbalance in racial justice, and the resultant backlash, fan behaviour and parasocial relationships spread into other parts of our lives. And now, in a post-2020 world, fandom has become an increasingly influential organizing principle for our society.
In this deeply reported but accessible nonfiction book, journalist and culture critic Stacy Lee Kong breaks down what fandom actually means and how it works, and explains how the merging of internet and celebrity culture, the “celebritization” of regular folks, and the resulting parasocial relationships are changing how we vote, work, shop—and even how we perceive the world around us.
Publication: Fall 2028
Publisher:
University of Iowa Press
Rights sold:
- English, North America: University of Iowa Press