Relationshipping nations: Philippines/US fan art and fan fiction

Abstract

Three fan productions are analyzed that delve into the question of what the Philippines and the United States have meant to one another, what the nature of their multifaceted involvement has been for more than a century, what Filipinos feel about the United States of America, and what Americans feel about the Philippines. Fan art and fan fiction are often laden with affect because it is the fact that fan creators are so affected by their favorite media texts that leads them to create fan works in the first place, and that makes their fellow fans, who understand the affects that inspire them, appreciate their works so deeply. Fan productions about the Philippines/United States are similarly suffused with feelings—the feelings that two nations and two peoples have for one another, which are difficult to define, articulate, and express for Filipinos, Americans, and Filipino Americans.