Quotes by Henry Jenkins

“(Nathaniel) Hawthornes books were potboilers in their time and became part of the literary establishment. No one knows if the Harry Potter books will be part of the literary curriculum 100 years from now, but its quite possible.”

“[Nathaniel Hawthornes books were] potboilers in their time and became part of the literary establishment, ... No one knows if the Harry Potter books will be part of the literary curriculum 100 years from now, but its quite possible.”

“No academic is going to know these books half as well as the fans that will be gathering.”

“Social connectivity, creativity and learning take place through these various media-related experiences.”

“Whats exciting about this (symposium) is the total fusion of fan and academic discussions. Thats a breaking down of the walls that hasnt occurred in many other places.”

...Fan fiction is a way of the culture repairing the damage done in a system where contemporary myths are owned by corporations instead of owned by the folk.

The worst thing a kid can say about homework is that it is too hard. The worst thing a kid can say about a game is its too easy.

Our focus should not be on emerging technologies, but on emerging cultural practices.

Critical pessimists, such as media critics Mark Crispin Miller, Noam Chomsky, and Robert McChesney, focus primarily on the obstacles to achieving a more democratic society. In the process, they often exaggerate the power of big media in order to frighten readers into taking action. I dont disagree with their concern about media concentration, but the way they frame the debate is self-defeating insofar as it disempowers consumers even as it seeks to mobilize them. Far too much media reform rhetoric rests on melodramatic discourse about victimization and vulnerability, seduction and manipulation, propaganda machines and weapons of mass deception. Again and again, this version of the media reform movement has ignored the complexity of the publics relationship to popular culture and sided with those opposed to a more diverse and participatory culture. The politics of critical utopianism is founded on a notion of empowerment; the politics of critical pessimism on a politics of victimization. One focuses on what we are doing with media, and the other on what media is doing to us. As with previous revolutions, the media reform movement is gaining momentum at a time when people are starting to feel more empowered, not when they are at their weakest.