Description
Book SynopsisDisney’s Princess Ariel would give anything to be 'where the people are', but little does she know there’s an ever-growing fan base of humans dying to be down in the ocean where she is. Movies like the
Little Mermaid and
Pirates of the Caribbean have sparked the interest of newer generations of mermaid fans, but our enchantment with these mythical creatures of the sea goes back for centuries.
Fan Phenomena: Mermaids takes a deep dive into these fascinations and the cultural creations that mermaids inspire among fans of all ages. Mermaids, and merfolk more generally, are everywhere you look. Merfolk devotees march in themed parades and practice mermaiding – swimming with a mermaid tail. There’s mermaid fiction and mermaid virtual reality; mermaid art and #mermaid trends. You may not know it, but transgenerational merfolk fan communities stretch around the world – from sea to shining sea. And their popularity is only growing. In
Fan Phenomena: Mermaids, Matthieu Guitton assembles a star studded cast of scholars and popular culture insiders to decode the mermaid phenomenon. The book explores how merfolk have evolved in popular culture and what it is that grants them their privileged status among fantasy creatures. Illustrated throughout with fan photographs and stills from a plethora of films and TV shows, this new addition to the Fan Phenomena series promises to both fascinate and delight readers – earthbound and ocean-dwelling alike.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Matthieu J. Guitton
Anthropology of a Fish
Matthieu J. Guitton
Fan Appreciation No. 1
Hannah Fraser
From Myths to Popular Arts: The Example of the Haitian La Sirène
Jonathan M. Cheek
Pirates of the Caribbean: Mermaids on Stranger Tides
Jennifer E. Porter
Fan Appreciation No. 2
Marielle Chartier Hénault
From Fantasy, to Virtual Spaces, to Reality, and Back: Structuring the Merfolk Community
Matthieu J. Guitton
Wearing Ariel: Memes and Tails
Rebecca-Anne C. Do Rozario
Fan Appreciation No. 3
Cynthia Rivers
Twenty Thousand Leagues and Counting: Steampunk Mermaids, from Ancient Seas to New Fandoms
Écile Cristofair
Meek as Sin: Dark Mermaids and the Embrace of the Icy Abyss
Brenda S. Gardenour Walter
Conclusion
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