Celebrating nostalgia or critiquing naivety: Reading pop music reunions through discourses of the fan life course

Simone Driessen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

This study explores how fans give meaning to pop music reunions through the lens of the life course. It does so through a content analysis of forum comments about TV series The Big Reunion, which reunites chart-topping music acts from the past decades. The fans interpret The Big Reunion in three modes closely related to their life-course position: first, now young adults, the fans read the reunion as a nostalgic phenomenon. Second, they consider the reunion as an ironic event. Third, they question The Big Reunion’s formula by reflecting on it through the prism of their current position in the life course. These readings reveal how the fans celebrate a nostalgic reflection on the pop acts of their youth; yet also offer a critique on their former, ‘naïve’ teenage/child-selves.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)133-150
Number of pages18
JournalThe Journal of Fandom Studies
Volume7
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2019

Research programs

  • ESHCC M&C

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