Épître aux Geeks

Pour une théorie de la culture participative

Abstract

This essay’s primary goal is to understand what the scholars consider as the otherness regarding the fans, the cult followers and the geeks, by using their practices in order to shed some light on one another. In this regard, we draw a genealogy of the participatory culture (according to Jenkins 1992) analysing the impact on the Sherlock Holmes adventure’s reader ; the vernaculary exegesis of H.P. Lovecraft’s work ; the unique dynamic that bonds the Star Wars’ creators to its devoted spectators ; and, finally, the arrival of the Internet which caused profound changes in fan practices. Then, from a synchronic angle, we examine the commitment toward specific works, i.e., the relationship between the fan and his chosen object (which is, for us, an independent practice of cultural ‘intensivity’) ; toward texts interpretation and criticism (building an alternative textual productivity); and toward the extension of fictional universe (which represents a specific case of intertextuality). Upon doing so, we try to establish a politic of readability in order to determine how the Institution can react and resist against the geek power.