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 | The Lack of Star Wars Scholarship |
Compared to other fandoms, there's relatively little scholarship in SW fandom. The official guys don't think there's any interest and many fans don't seem to take Star Wars seriously enough for it to happen. I know, because some of us have tried to get an academic track, or least some panels about Star Wars and mythology and stuff, at Celebration III and there was a lot of doubt people would really be interested. So it didn't happen. As far as websites go, Saga Journal is about it and we certainly don't get the traffic of The Force Net or Rebelscum. We do find papers and there are books being written or have been written but not at the same rate as there are for something like Tolkien, Harry Potter, or even The Matrix. With the wealth of material in the SW films and the different angles people can take analyzing it, there could be scholarship but while Star Wars fandom has certainly gotten bigger, I don't think it's "matured" to the point where it could take an interest in scholarship. I hope that will change and Saga Journal is meant to encourage that change, but who knows?
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http://blogs.starwars.com/misspadme/20 |
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Sunnyskywalker
Sunnyskywalker's Star Wars Stuff
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date Posted: Jan 22, 2006 9:25 PM
I know just what you mean! I'm continually shocked at the difference between Harry Potter fandom and Star Wars fandom. SW has just as much potential, so what is going on? It can't be because HP is an "open" or unfinished universe while SW is "closed," because there's all that EU material...
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jkthunder
Seven Pieces
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date Posted: Jan 22, 2006 9:26 PM
SWTG and the NEC are pretty extensive as is the EU itself. and the RPG in SW is pretty huge. thats good enough for me. id actually rather not see SW get mired in academia. puts up too much of a divide between different kinds of fans. SW is pretty firmly rooted in the films. after all, we are the cool geeks!
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Sunnyskywalker
Sunnyskywalker's Star Wars Stuff
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date Posted: Jan 22, 2006 10:12 PM
But for some of us, the academic approach is cool and fun! And I would worry a lot more about a homogenous fan base, all approaching the films in the same way, than a "divided" fan base--or as I see it, a diverse fan base where members approach the films in many different ways, some academic and some not (and some fans approaching it in half a dozen ways, if they want).
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Bai Ahzur
Bai Ahzur's usless, but hopefully entertaining, yet somewhat eneventful, however rewarding, blog.
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date Posted: Jan 23, 2006 12:41 PM
I think that the idea, from a scholarly standpoint, of having the mythology of Star Wars made literature, is entirley ludicrous. To a point I agree, but not all the way, I can see where the academic world would deny it entry into its ranks, but I don't see the logic of nonacceptance. I would very much like to see a Star Wars acasemy, but I know that it won't happen. At least, not for the next thousand years.
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MissPadme
Miss Padme's Naboo Love Nest
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date Posted: Jan 23, 2006 6:35 PM
Sunnyskywalker, in terms of scholarship I mean only the movies themselves. I'm not anti-EU, but the EU is one of those things that over the past 28 years have changed and sometimes rendered obsolete by the films.
That there will be no more SW films shouldn't even be an issue. JRR Tolkien hasn't written a word in decades. William Shakespeare hasn't written in centuries. Yet there's extensive scholarship for both.
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MissPadme
Miss Padme's Naboo Love Nest
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date Posted: Jan 23, 2006 6:35 PM
jkthunder, there are niches for all kinds of interests in SW fandom: comics, games, collecting, costuming, fan films, etc.. Why can't there be analysis and discussion of SW from an academic/mythological/symbolic perspective?
Bai Ahzur, why is it ludicrous? If you think it's ludicrous, why do you not "see the logic of nonacceptance?" Your points don't make any sense.
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jkelly
There Is No Conflict
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date Posted: Jan 24, 2006 12:32 PM
I think part of the problem is a dogmatic view arising out of the "meaning" of the OT. Most scholarship begins and ends with Lucas' adherence to Campbellian interpretation. Apart from random ruminations with other fans (with has been occurring long before the blogs), I haven't run across much -- and I've looked. I do enjoy the Saga Journal; although I'm being somewhat hypocritical because I haven't spent nearly enough time with it.
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jkelly
There Is No Conflict
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date Posted: Jan 24, 2006 12:36 PM
I think another problem is the negative press. When you've got something this big, everyone's looking to take a shot at it. Further, there's more than one film critic claiming that Star Wars ruined movies because now everyone sees the monetary value in merchandising, the sequel, the big special effects, etc. Especially in academia, it's so much easier to critique to praise. Academia also only looks at things that are "accepted" by other academicians. After hundreds of years of review, it's easy to say that Shakespeare and Chaucer are good authors. It's quite another thing to say that Stephen King is the next H.G. Wells (talk about going out on a limb).
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MissPadme
Miss Padme's Naboo Love Nest
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date Posted: Jan 24, 2006 6:03 PM
jkelly, there are some of the same points being made on my LiveJournal, where I posted something similar. a_p, who runs Saga Journal, said she's finding more material...it's just that a lot of it is not accessible to fandom, i.e. they're written in academic journals not readily available to the public.
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jkelly
There Is No Conflict
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date Posted: Jan 24, 2006 8:03 PM
Maybe the large appeal is part of the problem. One of my theories is that SW is so popular because you can watch it for everything from cool explosions to deep and complex discussions about the meaning of life -- there's something for everyone. LOTR only appeals to the dullards the first time through (if they can pay attention for the entire 3+ hours). A lot of people like SW and they don't even know why. Therefore, films like LOTR and writing like Shakespeare only appeals to a small group of highly motivated and dedicated super-geeks; thus, centralizing the power, so to speak. The SW super-geeks are diluted in the general population of SW fans.
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jkelly
There Is No Conflict
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date Posted: Jan 24, 2006 8:03 PM
The internet is also troubling to me. Being a bit older, I still really like reading books and just can't get into reading my laptop in my easy chair (I'm working on it though).
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Sunnyskywalker
Sunnyskywalker's Star Wars Stuff
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date Posted: Jan 25, 2006 9:27 PM
Sorry, I wasn't clear. I've seen the argument around a lot (and am getting sick of it) that basically says, "Harry Potter is only so popular because it's ongoing, so there's lots of room for speculation, while Star Wars fandom is going to decline because the story is finished." That isn't technically true, because of the EU.
Which is all irrelevant, because I don't think the "opennes" or "closedness" matters. There's plenty to interest people (and plenty to study) in the "closed" movies alone--there's just so much there--and I think that is what a lot of fans respond to, not just speculating about what might happen next. Sorry I got hung up on a technical thing that was only tangential 
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