Fantasy and Science Fiction Conventions as Transformational Festivals

I feel some level of justification as to my intuitions on aspects of science fiction and fantasy conventions and their subcultures. I recently came across a post at The Wild Hunt blog which referenced a lecture by Jeet-Kei Leung on transformational festivals like Burning Man. Jason Pitzl-Waters of The Wild Hunt mentioned that a similar dynamic has been observed at places like Dragon*Con. Not long ago I made similar observations noting parallels between Burning Man and Dragon*Con (see links below). In a post I wrote:

Some of the parallels between Burning Man Festival and fan conventions/subcultures like Dragon*Con include:

– A sense of belonging, family, and being part of a like-minded group that shares similar values.

– Related to the above, a shared sense that their participation in the festival/convention represents being part of a subculture more real than that lived in the rest of the year.

– A process which Victor Turner discussed which involved leaving one’s tribe, traveling to a liminal space apart, participation in various forms of ritual, and a return to the tribe after experiencing a strong sense of “communitas” or community from the shared experience.

– The inclusion of a strong sense of artistic expression through painting, drawing, sculpture, and the creation of various forms of artifacts.

– Costuming and play. At Burning Man this can take a variety of forms, from nudity to any number of costumer creations, while at sci-fi/fantasy conventions it becomes “cosplay,” costume play as a form of performance art related to the fantastic.

– A strong sense of participation and self-expression in keeping with embodied ideals as the driving force behind the gatherings.

– A sense of modern tribalism, a connectedness in terms of shared understandings of social and (sub)cultural values.

– Utopian desires which yearn for the creation of forms of society which transcend the limitations and overcome the negative aspects of contemporary Western societies.

In the video presentation below Leung discusses the significance of a return of mythos and that participants express themselves as co-creators of community. He also mentions the importance of music in such contexts, but in applying his thesis to science fiction and fantasy conventions I would add the significance of mythic stories depicted in various formats from comics to television to cinema. These elements combine at science fiction and fantasy conventions resulting in some instances in expressions of the spiritual and religious. These ideas are worthy of further academic exploration and field study.