i've only been in fandom since 2003, and i can't remember when i first stumbled across the term acafan, but to me it is NOT synonymous with meta.
anyone can meta. the bar is low.
to be an acafan, i always thought that meant you were applying academic tools to fandom somehow, or that your professional and fannish interests overlapped in that regard to some extent.
i know academics whose areas of specialties don't overlap with fandom. they would not call themselves acafans.
i also know academics who see fandom and "fun" writing as an escape from the strictures of academic or commercial publishing. they wouldn't conside themselves acafans.
if you read the OTW's journal, for example, or any scholarly journal, it's obvious that what acafans get up to professionally is way more involved than just meta. tho i am the first to highly value meta.
and some of the acafans i know are not fulltime employed by universities. they are independent scholars, or are partttime, but they do apply the tools and background of lit crit or media studies or gender studies or whatever to fandom or fanfic.
i hope the two terms, "enjoyer of meta" and "acafan" don't get conflated. to me they are very different.
no subject
i've only been in fandom since 2003, and i can't remember when i first stumbled across the term acafan, but to me it is NOT synonymous with meta.
anyone can meta. the bar is low.
to be an acafan, i always thought that meant you were applying academic tools to fandom somehow, or that your professional and fannish interests overlapped in that regard to some extent.
i know academics whose areas of specialties don't overlap with fandom. they would not call themselves acafans.
i also know academics who see fandom and "fun" writing as an escape from the strictures of academic or commercial publishing. they wouldn't conside themselves acafans.
if you read the OTW's journal, for example, or any scholarly journal, it's obvious that what acafans get up to professionally is way more involved than just meta. tho i am the first to highly value meta.
and some of the acafans i know are not fulltime employed by universities. they are independent scholars, or are partttime, but they do apply the tools and background of lit crit or media studies or gender studies or whatever to fandom or fanfic.
i hope the two terms, "enjoyer of meta" and "acafan" don't get conflated. to me they are very different.