Comic Fans and Convergence Culture: Community of Readers in The Master of Kung Fu

Authors

David Edward Beard, University of Minnesota - DuluthFollow
Kate Vo Thi-BeardFollow

Abstract

As a member of several fan cultures, I have an interest in the processes that fan audiences use to construct and reconstruct the texts they consume. Additionally, I think of the way (written, oral, and musical) texts construct the individuals who constitute their audiences. Examining Master of Kung Fu provided the perfect combination of these two interests. -- David

My fascination with representations of Asians in the media began with The Destroyer book series that I read as a teen. While the character Remo at first resisted his fate, he quickly embraced his identity as the next Master of Sinanju. As a Vietnamese American growing up in a small Midwestern town, I have slowly come to my identity as an Asian American. I owe a lot of that to my current life as a Ph.D. student. My research has centered around cultural identity and representations in comics, children's literature, and Asian American magazines. These have fueled my desire to learn more about my own identity. -- Kate

About the Author(s)

David Beard is Assistant Professor in the Department of Writing Studies at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. His research has centered on modernism and rhetoric. His publications include Advances in the History of Rhetoric (with Richard Enos), and he is currently working on a book project on I. A. Richards.

Kate Vo Thi-Beard is a doctoral student in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to her interests in comics and graphic novels, she is researching the role of Asian American magazines in building community and cultural identity.

DOI

10.15760/harlot.2009.2.2

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/39376

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Beard, David Edward and Vo Thi-Beard, Kate (2009) "Comic Fans and Convergence Culture: Community of Readers in The Master of Kung Fu," Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion: No. 2, 2.
https://doi.org/10.15760/harlot.2009.2.2