Trans Fandom (3/15/2023; 1/1/2022)

Since its inception as a field, fan studies has been obsessed with gender, yet discussions of gender have tended to focus on binary genders, with other gender expressions often pushed to the margins, enclosed in parentheses, mentioned but not engaged, or highlighted as areas of future research. Although fan scholars have acknowledged the existence of trans fans and emphasized the importance of gender nonnormativity in many aspects of fandom, and although queer and trans theories have been utilized in analyses of fans’ transformative works and fan behaviors, surprisingly little work has focused on trans fans, trans ways of doing fandom, and depictions of trans bodies within fan works. Only recently have serious considerations of what fandom might mean for trans individuals and trans considerations of fandom emerged.

This special issue seeks to widen our knowledge of trans fandom. We invite submissions that engage with trans theory as a lens for analyzing fandom, case studies of trans fans’ experiences of fandom, considerations of trans bodies in fan fiction, trans theorizations of cosplay cross-dressing, and so on. In particular, we seek work that centers trans people—that is, individuals who express their gender identities in a variety of ways, including but not limited to transgender, transsexual, nonbinary, gender fluid, genderqueer, agender, intersex, or otherwise gender nonnormative.

We welcome both longer conceptual pieces (6,000–8,000 words), case studies (5,000–7,000 words), and shorter symposium pieces (1,500–2,500 words), which might include editorials, reflections, commentaries, synopses of relevant earlier research, and so forth.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:
            * Trans bodies in fan fiction, fan art, and other transformative works.
            * Using trans theory as a lens for considering cosplay, fan art, reader response/audience reception, etc.
            * Trans fans' experiences of fandom.
            * Trans genealogies of fandom.
            * Intersectional and decolonized considerations of trans fans and fandom.
            * Teaching trans studies with/through fandom.
            * Demographic and generational changes in fandom.

Submission Guidelines

Transformative Works and Cultures (TWC, http://journal.transformativeworks.org/) is an international, peer-reviewed, online Gold Open Access publication of the nonprofit Organization for Transformative Works, copyrighted under a Creative Commons License. TWC aims to provide a publishing outlet that welcomes fan-related topics and to promote dialogue between the academic community and the fan community. TWC accommodates academic articles of varying scope as well as other forms that embrace the technical possibilities of the Web and test the limits of the genre of academic writing.

            Theory: Conceptual essays. Peer review. 6,000–8,000 words.
            Praxis: Case study essays. Peer review. 5,000–7,000 words.
            Symposium: Short commentary. Editorial review. 1,500–2,500 words.

Please visit TWC's Web site (http://journal.transformativeworks.org/) for complete submission guidelines, or e-mail the TWC Editor (editor@transformativeworks.org).

Contact—Contact guest editors Jennifer Duggan (University of South-Eastern Norway) and Angie Fazekas (University of Toronto) with any questions before or after the due date at trans.fandom@ outlook.com. 

Due date— January 1, 2022, for March 2023 publication.