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

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.）

如果你是一個全情投入的粉絲（實際上無論你喜歡什么），那么“粉圈”可能構成了你精神、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長達六小時，回過神發現自己不禁疑惑：“咦，fandom這個詞到底是從哪兒冒出來的？”（還有，“怎么就到‘明天’了？！”）那么你真是走運了。（不過，只是部分走運。我可以告訴你fandom一詞的起源，但我無法讓你取消凌晨1點開始讀25萬字粉絲小說的決定。我對此深感抱歉。）

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.

從很多方面來看，粉圈像是一個十分現代的、基于互聯網的現象，但千禧一代絕非第一批對自己喜愛的事物非常、非常狂熱的人。早在互聯網發明之前，粉絲群體就已經在出版粉絲雜志、參加展會、創作粉絲小說、制作粉絲視頻了。fandom這個詞也早已有之，實際上已經存在了一個多世紀。

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的歷史要從一個非常古老的詞——fanatic說起。fanatic源自拉丁語單詞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）.

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

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.

沒過多久，人們便將fanatic縮寫為fan。早在1682年，fan的各種變體就已出現在印刷品上。然而，直到19世紀晚期，fan才開始與體育愛好者（尤其是棒球迷）聯系起來，從而脫離最初的宗教含義。話雖如此，無論是因為電視劇的下集預告，還是因為演員似乎承認了粉絲口中的“完美配對”，任何經歷過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聯中看到自己。我說這話是帶著愛意的——如果我最喜歡的粉絲群體陷入狂歡，我通常也會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，當時《辛辛那提問詢報》刊登了《粉圈對約翰遜派言論感到困惑》一文。據《牛津英語詞典》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。語源學家邁克爾·基尼恩認為，后綴“-dom”應用于單詞時有兩種含義：其一“表示某個等級或該等級人物控制的區域”（例如：kingdom指國王控制的區域，earldom指伯爵控制的區域，等等）；其二表示“狀態或狀況”（例如：wisdom表示擁有智慧的狀態）。

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通常只用來指代粉絲群體，但我傾向于結合“-dom”的兩種字面含義來理解fandom。如果我們像理解kingdom那樣理解fandom，那么fandom的字面意思就是“由粉絲控制的區域”——我認為這體現了粉圈的本質特征：既是致力于對某個對象（節目、漫畫、運動隊等，不一而足）表達忠誠的群體，也是由粉絲打造和控制的創作場所——粉絲們在此創造自己的語言和社群，也在此重新構想角色和世界，使之成為獨屬于自己的存在。如果我們把fandom的“-dom”定義為一種存在狀態，類似wisdom或freedom等詞的后綴，那么fandom也是一種存在狀態，就是粉絲們所處的狀態。粉圈不僅僅指外在的社群，還是一種存在方式——這個定義對于任何曾經深陷粉圈的人來說都會感同身受。你清楚自己屬于哪個圈子。

（譯者單位：中央民族大學）

1" = fan fiction粉絲小說，指的是粉絲利用原有漫畫、動畫、小說、影視等作品中的人物角色、故事情節或背景設定等元素二次創作出來的小說。" 2 binge狂歡；放縱。

3 = fan video粉絲視頻，指粉絲二次創作出來的視頻。" 4 connotation隱含意義。

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