Theoretical approach of how to conduct ethnographically-inspired
audience research of web-based fandom of the soap opera Lindenstrasse

Index:

1. Introduction

2. The study of cyberculture

2.1 Virtual ethnography - "real world" ethnography

3. Pilot study of Lindenstrasse: About the series

3.1 Classification of the pilot study
3.2 Fan practices

3.2.1 The absence of fan fiction
3.2.2 Human-Computer-Interaction: de.rec.tv.lindenstrasse
3.2.3 Face-to-face interaction: fan-meetings
3.2.4 Fanzines

3.3 Methodological aspects
3.4 Ethical aspects and problems

4. Conclusion

5. References

1. Introduction

Ethnography is the central method of anthropology. Nevertheless, it has often been borrowed and adapted by other disciplines. While there is a central body of methodological texts within anthropology, this is not the case in relation to the use of ethnography outside the discipline and in relation to online fandom in particular. This "absence of a central corpus of methodological texts" (Ruddock 1998, p.297) results in a broad range of diversity in so-called ethnographic writing. Harry F. Wolcott′s struggle (in Van Maanen 1995:92) to decide whether to call his study The Man in the Principal′s Office (1973) ethnographic or not, characterises very clearly the fuzziness and complexity of the method. Even when contemporary ethnographies, such as virtual ethnography, are intended to feature a much narrower focus, some of these difficulties remain. The first ethnographers in the middle of the 19th century were the so-called "armchair-ethnologists." Often their only sources of information were travelogues of missionaries. They accumulated their information without coming to direct contact with the human beings that were their objects of investigation. The research scientist only evaluated the data. This impersonal, anonymous basic approach resulted in distorted, superficial and extremely notional representations of societies. Around 1918, the "Malinowskian revolution" in ethnography demonstrated an approach of participant observation. The previous segregation between fieldworker and scientist ceased, which resulted in a single person acting as reporter, researcher and analytical scientist. Malinowski suggested that it is important not only to record the actions of the subject of exploration but also to understand the underlying motivations. "Ethnography has changed a lot since its origins as the method anthropologists used to develop an understanding of cultures in distant places" (Hine 2000, p.41). One of the last relics may be the original core approach of travelling to a foreign place and integrating into a community or society with the aim of understanding the actions and underlying motivations of its members. "It (ethnography) refers to a style of research that seeks to describe and interpret a cultural or social group or system, and involves the participation of the ethnographer(s)" (http://staff.bath.ac.uk/psssr/courses/mres ethnography.html). This original core approach is still dominant in anthropology and its sub-fields, although its methods have had to be modified and redefined. Against this background, it is instructive to examine, from a theoretical point of view, how to conduct ethnographically inspired audience research of a soap opera′s fandom. To achieve this, it is necessary to explore the phenomenon of cyberculture and its differences from "real world" ethnography. The German series Lindenstrasse provides a suitable subject for investigation. Two studies have been conducted on similar American subjects of research. Jenkins′ and Scodari′s studies offer interesting perspectives, concerning their approaches and methodologies, to ethnographically-inspired audience research of Lindenstrasse fandom. Nevertheless, there are differences between the American soap opera genre and Lindenstrasse. These differences relate not only to the genre, but to the audience and consequently to its resistance to ideologically positioned texts. Following Jenkins′ and Scodari′s approaches it is necessary to unfold Lindenstrasse fan practices and interactions before examining to practical methodological aspects. Ethical issues and problems associated with methodology are discussed at the end.

2. The study of cyberculture

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