From the beginning, the superhero genre has revolved around narratives of transformation. Through traumatic experiences, physical disabilities evolve into super strength and invulnerability; mental disabilities grant telekinesis and foresight. Characters considered “outsiders” are tasked with lead roles in saving the world. All of these attributes appeal to the marginalized fan. Yet, the default fan is often assumed to be white, Anglo-American, and able-bodied.
Decolonizing Media Fandom focuses on the globally diverse fan base of a massively popular Western text: the Marvel superhero universe. Drawing on fanworks from Archive of Our Own, a survey spanning sixteen countries, and one-on-one interviews with Marvel fans who identify as non-white and/or having a disability, Divya Garg examines the strengths and limitations of fandom from the perspective of those who are often relegated to the margins.
“Divya Garg’s Decolonizing Media Fandom is an indispensable contribution . . . it will be required reading for those interested in disability studies, fan/media studies, affect theory, and decolonial theory. She is particularly concerned with the ways in which racialized and disabled fans in global spaces participate in—and rewrite, revise, and expand—the Marvel superhero universe. This body of cultural production has never been approached from such an original intersectional perspective. This book will significantly change and move forward the conversations about the cultural work of the Marvel superhero universe globally.”—Robert McRuer, author, Crip Times: Disability, Globalization, and Resistance
“Disability has finally arrived as a central cross-cutting area of scholarship in humanities and social sciences . . . well-theorized, brilliantly written, with a strong, engaging, and persuasive authorial voice . . . a major influence on the area of fandom across media and culture forms.”—Gerard Goggin, Western Sydney University
“A real-world example of how there is no one ‘right’ way to represent disability, given the plenitude of possible interpretations of any text . . . this text makes every effort to appeal to broader audiences.”—Lori Kido Lopez, University of Wisconsin–Madison
