Star Trek Fandom as a Religious Phenomenon

Abstract

This essay is an ethnographic exploration of Star Trek fandorn. Rather than the more common textual analyses of the program, this article examines the history and practice of the fans themselves, on computer networks, at consentions and in tourism, in UStarJleet fan clubs and in fan literature. All these fan activities canstruct and add to the altemative universe of Star Trek while also connecting it with the present. At a time when scholars are finding religion in nonconventional locations, I argue that Star Trek fandan is one of these locations. Star Trek fandorn involves a sacralization of elements of our culture, along with the fonnation of communities with regularized practices that include a canon and a hierarchy. Star TrekfarXn is also associated with a popular stigma, givingfans a sense of persecution and identity common to active religious groups. Star Trek (ST) is a phenomenon unlike any other. Now over 25 years old, it originated when the original Star Trek television series was threatened with cancellation after its first year. Fans immediately sprang into action with a letter-writing campaign to keep it going (Trimble 1983). When it finally was canceled after its third year, the show went into syndication, and ironically, that is when the fandom phenomenon really started to take off.l The first convention was in New York in 1972. A centralized fan clearinghouse organization, the Welcommittee, was established in 1972 to introduce fans to ST (Van Hise 1990; Bacon-Smith 1992). At this time, noncommercial fan magazines (fanzines) were already being written; and books, manuals, and novels were published. Efforts to revive ST broadcasts in some form continued. An animated series was produced from 1973-1974, and in 1979 the first of the six (at present) ST movies was released. In 1987 Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) was pro