Where Did the Word “Fandom” Come from?“粉圈”從何而來(lái)？

If you’re someone who is deeply devoted fan （of anything， really）， fandom may make up a significant part of your mental， emotional， and social life. If you’ve ever emerged from a six-hour long fanfic1 binge2 and found yourself wondering “Hey， where did the word ‘fandom’ come from， anyway？” （and also “When did it turn into tomorrow？！”）， you’re in luck. （Well， partially. I can tell you about the origins of the word “fandom，” but I can’t reverse your decision to start a 250 thousand-word fic at one AM. Sorry ’bout that.）

如果你是一個(gè)全情投入的粉絲（實(shí)際上無(wú)論你喜歡什么），那么“粉圈”可能構(gòu)成了你精神、情感和社交生活的重要組成部分。如果你曾縱情閱讀粉絲小說(shuō)長(zhǎng)達(dá)六小時(shí)，回過(guò)神發(fā)現(xiàn)自己不禁疑惑：“咦，fandom這個(gè)詞到底是從哪兒冒出來(lái)的？”（還有，“怎么就到‘明天’了？！”）那么你真是走運(yùn)了。（不過(guò)，只是部分走運(yùn)。我可以告訴你fandom一詞的起源，但我無(wú)法讓你取消凌晨1點(diǎn)開(kāi)始讀25萬(wàn)字粉絲小說(shuō)的決定。我對(duì)此深感抱歉。）

In many ways， fandom can seem like a very modern， internet-based phenomenon， but Millennials were far from the first people to get really， really excited about their favorite things. Long before the internet was invented， fan groups were publishing fan magazines， attending cons， writing fanfic， and making fanvids3. The word “fandom，” too， has been around for a long time—well over a century， in fact.

從很多方面來(lái)看，粉圈像是一個(gè)十分現(xiàn)代的、基于互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的現(xiàn)象，但千禧一代絕非第一批對(duì)自己喜愛(ài)的事物非常、非?？駸岬娜?。早在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)發(fā)明之前，粉絲群體就已經(jīng)在出版粉絲雜志、參加展會(huì)、創(chuàng)作粉絲小說(shuō)、制作粉絲視頻了。fandom這個(gè)詞也早已有之，實(shí)際上已經(jīng)存在了一個(gè)多世紀(jì)。

The history of the word “fandom” starts with a very old word—“fanatic.” “Fanatic” arose out of a Latin word， “fānāticus，” which， in turn， came from the word “fanum，” meaning “temple” or “shrine.”

fandom的歷史要從一個(gè)非常古老的詞——fanatic說(shuō)起。fanatic源自拉丁語(yǔ)單詞fānāticus，而后者又源自fanum，義為“神廟”或“圣地”。

The Oxford English Dictionary （OED） states that “fanatic” made its way into English in 1533， as an adjective meaning “frenzied” or “mad.” It first appeared in print as a noun， meaning “a visionary; an unreasoning enthusiast，” in 1644. In the second half of the 17th century， the English used “fanatic” as an insult， referring to Nonconformists （aka Protestants who wouldn’t adhere to the Church of England）.

《牛津英語(yǔ)詞典》指出，fanatic于1533年作為形容詞收入英語(yǔ)詞匯，義為“狂熱的”或“瘋狂的”。該詞首次作為名詞出現(xiàn)在印刷品上是在1644年，義為“空想家；不理智的愛(ài)好者”。17世紀(jì)下半葉，英國(guó)人將fanatic用于侮辱非國(guó)教信徒（即不信仰英國(guó)國(guó)教的新教徒）。

It didn’t take too long for people to shorten “fanatic” to “fan”; variations of “fan” appeared in print as early as 1682. It wasn’t until the late-19th century， however， that “fan” began to be used in relation to sports enthusiasts （especially baseball devotees）， separating the term from its original religious connotation4. That said， anyone who has participated in their fandom having a collective meltdown5 at the promise of new episodes， or when actors seem to acknowledge fans’ OTP6 will recognize themselves in the early association of “fanatic” with overwhelming religious fervor. And I say that with love—if my favorite fandoms are melting down， I’m usually right there in the pot with everyone else.

沒(méi)過(guò)多久，人們便將fanatic縮寫為fan。早在1682年，fan的各種變體就已出現(xiàn)在印刷品上。然而，直到19世紀(jì)晚期，fan才開(kāi)始與體育愛(ài)好者（尤其是棒球迷）聯(lián)系起來(lái)，從而脫離最初的宗教含義。話雖如此，無(wú)論是因?yàn)殡娨晞〉南录A(yù)告，還是因?yàn)檠輪T似乎承認(rèn)了粉絲口中的“完美配對(duì)”，任何經(jīng)歷過(guò)粉圈集體情緒失控的人都能從早期fanatic與極度宗教狂熱的關(guān)聯(lián)中看到自己。我說(shuō)這話是帶著愛(ài)意的——如果我最喜歡的粉絲群體陷入狂歡，我通常也會(huì)和大家一起沉浸其中。

“Fandom” finally made an appearance in 1903， when the Cincinnati Enquirer printed， “Fandom puzzled over Johnsonian7 statements.” The OED reports that Publishers Weekly mentioned “baseball fandom” in 1928. “Fandom” is a combination of the “fan” with the suffix “-dom.” Etymologist Michael Quinion suggests that “-dom” has two meanings when applied to words; in one usage， the suffix “denote[s] a rank or an area controlled by a person of that rank” （so a “kingdom” is the area controlled by a king， an “earldom” is the area controlled by an earl， etc）. In its second usage， “-dom” refers to “a state or condition” （“wisdom，” for example， is the state of being wise）.

fandom一詞最終在1903年出現(xiàn)，當(dāng)時(shí)《辛辛那提問(wèn)詢報(bào)》刊登了《粉圈對(duì)約翰遜派言論感到困惑》一文。據(jù)《牛津英語(yǔ)詞典》描述，《出版人周刊》在1928年提到了baseball fandom（棒球粉圈）。fandom是fan與后綴“-dom”的組合。語(yǔ)源學(xué)家邁克爾·基尼恩認(rèn)為，后綴“-dom”應(yīng)用于單詞時(shí)有兩種含義：其一“表示某個(gè)等級(jí)或該等級(jí)人物控制的區(qū)域”（例如：kingdom指國(guó)王控制的區(qū)域，earldom指伯爵控制的區(qū)域，等等）；其二表示“狀態(tài)或狀況”（例如：wisdom表示擁有智慧的狀態(tài)）。

Although “fandom” is generally used to refer simply to a collection of fans， I like the idea of taking both of these meanings of “-dom” literally. If we read “fandom” the same way as “kingdom，” then it would literally refer to a region controlled by fans—a meaning that I think expresses something essential about fandom： It is a group dedicated to showing devotion to some object （a show， a comic， a sports team， what-have-you）， but it is also a site of production generated and controlled by fans—a space where fans create their own language and communities， and where they reimagine characters and worlds into something that is uniquely theirs. And if we define “-dom” in this case as a state of being， similarly to words like “wisdom” or “freedom，” then “fandom，” too， is a state of being， a condition that fans have. That defin-ition—the idea that fandom isn’t simply an external community， but also a mode of being—will ring true to anyone who’s ever been deeply enmeshed in a fandom. You know who you are.

雖然fandom通常只用來(lái)指代粉絲群體，但我傾向于結(jié)合“-dom”的兩種字面含義來(lái)理解fandom。如果我們像理解kingdom那樣理解fandom，那么fandom的字面意思就是“由粉絲控制的區(qū)域”——我認(rèn)為這體現(xiàn)了粉圈的本質(zhì)特征：既是致力于對(duì)某個(gè)對(duì)象（節(jié)目、漫畫、運(yùn)動(dòng)隊(duì)等，不一而足）表達(dá)忠誠(chéng)的群體，也是由粉絲打造和控制的創(chuàng)作場(chǎng)所——粉絲們?cè)诖藙?chuàng)造自己的語(yǔ)言和社群，也在此重新構(gòu)想角色和世界，使之成為獨(dú)屬于自己的存在。如果我們把fandom的“-dom”定義為一種存在狀態(tài)，類似wisdom或freedom等詞的后綴，那么fandom也是一種存在狀態(tài)，就是粉絲們所處的狀態(tài)。粉圈不僅僅指外在的社群，還是一種存在方式——這個(gè)定義對(duì)于任何曾經(jīng)深陷粉圈的人來(lái)說(shuō)都會(huì)感同身受。你清楚自己屬于哪個(gè)圈子。

（譯者單位：中央民族大學(xué)）

1" = fan fiction粉絲小說(shuō)，指的是粉絲利用原有漫畫、動(dòng)畫、小說(shuō)、影視等作品中的人物角色、故事情節(jié)或背景設(shè)定等元素二次創(chuàng)作出來(lái)的小說(shuō)。" 2 binge狂歡；放縱。

3 = fan video粉絲視頻，指粉絲二次創(chuàng)作出來(lái)的視頻。" 4 connotation隱含意義。

5 meltdown情緒突然失控。" 6 = one true pairing完美配對(duì)。" 7 Johnsonian塞繆爾·約翰遜研究學(xué)者（或崇拜者）。