2451-1986 Game of Thrones fandom. Power and culture in fan communities Piórecka Katarzyna author Uniwersytet Warszawski 039bjqg32 Correspondence to: Katarzyna Piórecka 30 06 2023 Numer 1 (14) 2023 2023 9 23 Copyright © 2023 2023 Fans represent a shift in media consumption, and their patterns of behaviour are increasingly visible outside their communities, in other groups. With the observed shift towards a network society, of which fandoms are an emanation, the field of social conflict begins to operate within culture. Cultural power over media products no longer belongs only to the creators, but is also influenced by the users, who cease to passively consume products, creatively interpreting them and engaging in their development. The aim of the article was to show this process on the example of content analysis of internet entries created within the environment of the Game of Thrones fandom, including speculations which the fans of the brand carried out in the context of the plot development. 1 “A Forum of Ice and Fire” 2018, https://asoiaf.westeros.org/ (accessed 24.05.2018). 2 About, “Westeros. The ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ Domain” 2018, http://www.westeros.org/About/ (accessed 24.05.2018). 3 Season 7, “Game of Thrones. Wikia” 2018, http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Season_7 (accessed 24.05.2018). 4 Castleberry G., Game(s) of Fandom. The Hyperlink Labyrinths That Paratextualize Game of Thrones Fandom [in:] Television, Social Media, and Fan Culture, eds. D. Givens-Carroll, A.J. Narro, A. Slade, Lexington Books, Lanham 2015. 5 Dijk J. van, Społeczne aspekty nowych mediów, transl. J. Konieczny, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warsaw 2010. 6 Duffett M., Understanding Fandom. An Introduction to the Study of Media Fan Culture, Bloomsbury Academic, New York 2013. 7 Goodman L., Disappointing Fans: Fandom, Fictional Theory, and the Death of the Author, ‘The Journal of Popular Culture’ 2015, Vol. 48, No. 4, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpcu.12223/full (accessed 31.01.2018). 8 Jenkins H., Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participator Culture, NYU Press, New York 2006. 9 Jenkins H., Textual Poachers. Television Fans and Participatory Culture. Updated Twentieth Anniversary Edition, Routledge, New York 2013. 10 Lipińska A., The phenomenon of contemporary serials. On the social impact of television series, ‘Cultural Contexts’ 2016, no. 13, z. 3, https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=558967 (accessed 31.01.2018) 11 Lisowska-Magdziarz M., Fandom for Beginners. Part I Community and Knowledge, ToC Publishing House, Krakow 2017. 12 Lisowska-Magdziarz M., ‘Scherlock. Playing with fandom and exploiting the potential of convergence, ‘Zeszyty Prasoznawcze’ 2016, vol. 59, no. 1 (225), pp. 197-211. 13 Roberts K., Lovemarks: The Future beyond Brands, New York 2005. 14 Roszczynialska M., Świat wartości fanów fantasy w świetle ich praktyki (para)literackich. Perspektywy badawcze [in:] Oblicza nowych mediów, ed. A. Ogonowska, Wydawnictwo Wyższej Szkoły Zarządzania i Bankowości w Krakowie, Kraków 2011. 15 Siuda P., Cultures of Prosumption. On the impossibility of global and transnational fan communities, ASPRA-JR Publishing House, Warsaw 2012. 16 Stadler F., Manuel Castells. Theory of network society, transl. M. Król, Jagiellonian University Publishing House, Krakow, 2012. 17 Szczepaniak R., “Tribes of the Web”. – Internet as a social and cultural medium, “Zeszyty Prasoznawcze” 2015, vol. 58, no. 1 (221), pp. 202-211.