Genealogy of a Participatory Community and Spanish Fandom
What is the situation of the fandom in Spain, where the mass media and consumer culture developed under a dictatorship?
Media studies have taken a particular interest in the evolution of participatory culture: a culture in which spectators –the audience– leave behind their passive role and, as the term suggests, participate. Participating can entail giving an opinion or commenting, but also creating new scenarios or narratives, contributing new ideas (even without asking permission)… It all sounds very familiar and current to us today, but this is why scholars have thoroughly studied the phenomenon of fandom: communities of fantasy, science fiction, and popular culture fans, with a tradition that goes back eighty years… in the USA. But what is the situation in Spain, where the mass media and consumer culture developed under a dictatorship?
The heyday of Spanish fandom dates back to the sixties, as evidenced by the emergence of fanzines such as Dronte (1966, Luis Vigil), El fantástico (y científico) Torito Bravo (1966), Cuentatrás (1966, Carlos Buiza), and Anticipación (Luis Vigil and Domingo Santos, 1966), backed by Ferma publishing house. And also by the tentative associationism, the first fan conventions and events, and by the desire to create magazines and collections produced by fans, for fans, such as the mythical Nueva Dimensión (1968 Luis Vigil, Domingo Santos, et. al.).
Before then, science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts could only access collections such as Nebulae, published by Edhasa, radio plays like Diego Valor, and fantasy and science fiction comic books previously subjected to a good dose of censorship in order to ensure the moral rectitude of material destined to fall into the hands of young people (because in theory, until very recently, these genres were considered inappropriate for adults).