Abstract
This paper examines the way fandom is experienced in Brazil. The analysis is based on fan discourse as it appears in letters sent to actors and actresses who work at Rede Globo de Televisao, the major Brazilian TV network, situated at Rio de Janeiro. The analysis proceeds along two axes: the attempts made by fans to distinguish themselves among the crowd and the frequent use of romantic discourse to express their feelings for their idols. Both issues are understood as ‘singularization strategies’, whose recurrence creates a paradox: it is precisely the effort to distinguish themselves that makes the fans alike. This paradox is used as a way to discuss how the tension between singularization and massification is experienced in Brazil, contributing to the understanding of how one of the main trends of Western modern life appears in South America's largest country.
Highlights
Its chorus line was: ‘I belong to the people, I’m just a John Doe’
I watched this scene several times, both on television and live during a concert. It always struck me because of its power to synthesize what I suggest to be the essential paradox of the experience of fandom: the wish to have one’s singularity recognized, but expressing this wish as part of a crowd
If in a globalized world they may be thought of as universal phenomena, case studies devoted to an apprehension of particularities can allow a comparison of both what is different and what is shared, providing a way to a deeper understanding of complexities of Western modernity
Summary
In 1991, a Brazilian pop band wrote a song with lyrics that described life for poor people. Its chorus line was: ‘I belong to the people, I’m just a John Doe’. This article examines the way fandom is experienced in Brazil, focusing on how the tension between massification and singularization – dramatized in the scene above – appears in Brazilian society It can be seen as an attempt to discuss how a classical issue which mass media studies have since long been devoted to appears in a particular phenomenon of Brazilian mass culture. Fandom and celebrity are relatively understudied in Brazilian social sciences, it is possible to identify as a trend among research devoted to understanding fame case studies of particular forms of fan-idol relations, among which the present research may be included.3 Recent examples of this kind of work are Patrícia Coralis’s (2004) thesis on a Brazilian virtual fan club of North American pop singer Madonna and Rosana da Camara Teixeira’s (2004) dissertation on fans of the Brazilian pop singer Raul Seixas. The limits and possibilities of establishing such a dialogue are explored in order to achieve a better understanding of Brazil’s place in contemporary Western world
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
