This morning on NPR I heard a (pardon the word)
fascinating story about the character of Mr. Spock and his place in culture. As well as a chat with Mr. Nimoy, they interviewed Henry Jenkins, author of the amazing fan-culture participation study
Textual Poachers. I've recommended this book before, and I'll do it again. Though a bit outdated, (i.e., written before the Internet influence upon fan activities), it's so all-encompassing, and such a great history. What I like best about his studies is that he looks into the
reasons why fans latch onto certain attributes of a character -- what the character represents to them beyond the canon context of the show/film/novel/whatever. I find this of particular interest in his chapters about slash -- the dynamics between these subtextual invented relationships, and why fans choose to see them.
Anyway, now I'm all melty again about being a fan and about Textual Poachers and about Star Trek - to which I owe my intro to fandom when you get right down to it.
Ah, found it. You can read or listen to the report
here.