Reconsidering religion and fandom: Christian fan works in "My little pony" fandom

Studies of religion and fandom have tended to explore the extent to which fan cultures might be seen as forms of surrogate religion. This article suggests that a more detailed examination of the way in which believers use their faith within their individual fandoms would offer more interesting insig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Culture and religion
Main Author: Crome, Andrew (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis [2014]
In: Culture and religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B My little pony, friendship is magic / Christianity / Fan / Religious practice / Evangelization
RelBib Classification:CA Christianity
CB Christian life; spirituality
CD Christianity and Culture
RH Evangelization; Christian media
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:Studies of religion and fandom have tended to explore the extent to which fan cultures might be seen as forms of surrogate religion. This article suggests that a more detailed examination of the way in which believers use their faith within their individual fandoms would offer more interesting insights into both contemporary religious practice and fandom. Conducting a case study of ‘Brony’ fandom (adult fandom of cartoon "My little pony: friendship is magic"), this article explores the ways in which Christian fans use fan fiction and art to promote religious literacy, explore theological issues and engage in evangelism and exegesis. Fan knowledge is used as a way to quickly impart and explore complex religious concepts in a manner which utilises the shared culture of fandom. This should not be seen as a symptom of 'mediatisation' but as part of a complex synthesis of faith and popular culture.
ISSN:1475-5610
Contains:Enthalten in: Culture and religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2014.984234