Scholar/'shippers and Spikeaholics: Academic and fan identities at the Slayage Conference on Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Matt Hills argues that cultural theorists have been unable or unwilling to transcend a dichotomy that places academic discourse and identities in the realm of the rational or passionless, and fan identities in the realm of the immersed or open. As a result, the scholar-fan and the fan-scholar have become liminal and transgressive persona. This article draws on the author’s own experience, and that of 13 other delegates who participated in the Slayage Conference on Buffy the Vampire Slayer held in Tennessee in May 2004, as a basis for exploring the way in which the issues of the fan-scholar identity are lived out. Questions addressed include the way in which tensions between fan and academic identities were manifested, and the ways in which individuals managed their fan and academic identities.