Raven
New Member
I am currently constructing the questionnaire.
I would also like all your opinions into this:
"Do you believe that through Morrissey fans there is an "imagined fan community"? for example through this forum and others alike??"
Please try to answer from a point of view which is "outside the box" as it were don't see this as a personal attack on solo or something as I love it as much as the next fanits just research!
This might be too late as you did request immediate comments. My understanding of what you’re asking is two-part: 1 - do the users of Morrissey-solo perceive themselves to be part of a community – e.g. believe they have shared background/ interests and commonality? and 2. if they do, does the community really exist or is it imagined?
So in answer to the first part - personally, no. I’ve followed this site (especially forum) for 3 years and loaf around daily but rarely post. From my perspective, there seem to be pockets of communities, where people appear to know each other, support each other and have a shared perspective. As a whole it always feels quite fractured and, this is based on opinion not fact, I perceive the US and Europe fans prefer to mix with each other. There’s a lot of have a go merchants on the site, which makes it hilarious to read but doesn’t give me a warm feeling of belonging. The main purpose of my visits is information (as we all know there is simply nowhere else to get it) as opposed to fulfilling a need to share and connect with other fans. I am sure other people feel and experience this very differently. And I wonder if it is the nature of personalities attracted to Morrissey (intelligent, innately introvert and romantic) that makes the site as it is. Sweeping generalisations and assumptions abound but your question is one of perspective.
So in answer to the second bit – are the communities genuine or imaginary. I can’t really say because I don’t feel part of them. They seem fairly genuine (people discussing meeting up before gigs etc). I always get the impression that everyone knows each other and there will be greetings and camaraderie before a gig but I’ve never seen this first hand (apart from Palladium in 06 where loads of people gave Thank You signs to Moz).
I can only speak from my personal experience. Hope it helps.
