In pursuit of pop culture: Reception of pop culture in the People’s Republic of Poland as opposition to the political system – Example of the science fiction fandom

Abstract

Researching the fans of pop culture texts, it is worth considering a direction that has been neglected in fan studies: the treatment of fan practices as opposition to the polity of a country. Such considerations are particularly crucial in the context of fan communities functioning in non-democratic countries. The author describes the conditions of reception of pop culture texts in Poland under communism. It was in this era that access to such transmissions was restricted, and since fans sought to get access to those rationed cultural assets, their reception ought to be viewed as a symbolic opposition to the politics of the country. The article illustrates this using the example of science fiction fans functioning in the 1980s. The mechanism that governs their community is discussed as exemplified by issues of the literary magazine Fantastyka between 1982 and 1989. The fans’ opposition to the political system has been presented as an escape from the everyday difficulties connected with functioning in a communist polity. The fans facing the conditions of the time strived to get their favourite texts and overcame some institutional obstacles connected with organising their activities.