Matt Hills' 'Fan Cultures Between Knowledge and Justification' explores the idea of individuals identity through the concept of 'fandom'.
Hills concentrates on four individuals that have written about their own personal interactions with 'fandom' and being a fan. He outlines and analyses what each one says about their own experiences before conducting his own analysis of his 'fandoms'. The individuals, including their accounts, he uses to explain the context of 'fandom' and the idea that within a fan base individuals can form a sense of identity, are John Fiske, Scott Bukatman, Sue Wise and Janet Wolff.
He looks at individuals experiences with being a fan in an attempt to explore the idea that fan 'justification's are accepted cultural facts by ethnographers when they are different for everyone. Their are similarities and crossovers between individuals experiences of 'fandom' but they are mostly unique to the person involved and when looked at in a wider and more analytical context are rudimentary forms and aspects of individuals personalities. Instead of becoming 'home-truths' about a particular type of fan they are more narratives of the self.
In conclusions Hills explores the many different aspects of being a fan and concludes that 'fandom' is a way of exploring who you are as a individual and getting to know yourself, often helping to shape your identity because sometimes 'fandom' doesn't last forever. What we once were fans of, we often grow out of or move on to other interests that then become our new 'fandom'.
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