[1] “Fan” is ........ abbreviated form of
“fanatic”, which has ........ roots in ........ Latin
word “fanaticus”, which simply meant
“belonging to the temple, a devotee”. But
[5] these words quickly assumed negative
connotations, to the point of becoming
references to excessive religious belief and to any
mistaken enthusiasm.
Based on such connotations, news reports
[10] frequently characterize fans as psychopaths
........ frustrated fantasies of intimate
relationships with stars or unsatisfied desires
to achieve stardom take violent and antisocial
forms. Whether viewed as a religious fanatic,
[15] a psychopathic killer, a neurotic fantasist, or a
lust-crazed groupie, the fan remains a
“fanatic” with interests alien to the realm of
“normal” cultural experience and a mentality
dangerously out of touch with reality.
[20] To understand the logic behind this
discursive construction of fans, we must
reconsider what we mean by taste. Concepts
of “good taste,” appropriate conduct, or
aesthetic merit are not natural or universal;
[25] rather, they are rooted in social experience
and reflect particular class interests. Taste
becomes one of the important means by
which social distinctions are maintained and
class identities are forged. Those who
[30] “naturally” possess appropriate tastes
“deserve” a privileged position, while the
tastes of others are seen as underdeveloped.
Taste distinctions determine desirable and
undesirable ways of relating to cultural
[35] objects, strategies of interpretation and styles
of consumption.
The stereotypical conception of the fan
reflects anxieties about the violation of
dominant cultural hierarchies. The fans’
[40] transgression of bourgeois taste disrupt
dominant cultural hierarchies, insuring that
their preferences be seen as abnormal and
threatening by those who have an interest in
the maintenance of these standards (even by
[45] those who may share similar tastes but
express them in different ways).
Adapted from: JENKINS, Henry. Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. New York / London: Routledge, 1992. p. 12-16.
Select the alternative which has the same function and is formed by the same process as undesirable (l. 34).
