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Consumption of Superheroes: The Performances of Fans as Strategies of Involvement

Larissa Tamborindenguy Becko

The purpose of this work is to examine how Marvel and DC Comics superhero fans build their performances based on their consumer practices and how they contribute as identity elements for these subjects. The research, which presents a qualitative approach with ethnographic bias, seeks to analyze the consumption processes, essentially based on the precepts of Miller (2013) and Barbosa and Campbell (2006), to reflect the multimedia character and mainstream status that these characters acquire. Empirical analysis, based on Schechner’s and Goffman’s concept of performance, show that consumer processes are closely related to subjects’ identity narratives, which create their performances as fans from the consumption of different products related to the adored superhero.

Keywords: consumption, performance, superheroes, fans

Larissa Tamborindenguy Becko received their Bachelor in Public Relations from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and Master’s degree in Communication Sciences from the University of Vale dos Sinos River (UNISINOS), where they are currently a doctoral student. Main topics of interest include fan culture, superheroes, performances, identities and consumer practices.