Cultus Dispatches: Trends in Fandom Entry Year
To say that the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films inspired a lot of fanfiction is like saying that was is wet. It seems obvious—but do a bit of fiddling and twisting, and it becomes more complex than it seems on the surface.
This month's Cultus Dispatches column—our monthly column on Tolkien fandom cultures and history—uses Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data from three surveys to consider how the films inspired fanfiction. Naturally, they did, but ten years' worth of survey data shows that exactly how is much more complicated than that. For instance, when an author began writing fanfiction relative to the films entering or leaving theaters seems to predict how long they'll stick around, and other historical events happening in the background of these major moments in Tolkien fandom history also added fuel to fanfiction participation.
You can read more about what the data show in "Speak Friend and Enter: Trends in Fandom Entry Year."
Posted on (updated ) by SWG Moderators
