In 1956, American researchers Horton and Wohl coined the term “para-social interaction,” defined as the bond of intimacy that a consumer of media feels towards the “image” of the performer. Later developed into the notion of “celebrity worship” by researchers, “parasociality” has a relationship to the worshipful dynamics of totemism—in which the image of the animal exceeds the actual being in sacredness—as described by French sociologist Émile Durkheim. Discussing French author Jean Genet’s exploration of the unlikely forms of totemic worship common in the age of mass media, this article posits that Genet’s “parasociology of religion” demonstrates the way in which Durkheimian sociology of religion can offer insight into ostensibly secular contemporary practices, including those of fan communities.

1956年，美国研究人员霍顿（Horton）和沃尔（Wohl）创造了“半社会互动”一词，定义为媒体消费者对表演者“形象”的亲密联系。后来被研究人员发展为“名人崇拜”的概念，“超社会性”与图腾主义的崇拜动力有关，在这种情况下，动物的形象超过了神圣的真实形象，正如法国社会学家埃米尔·杜尔克海姆（ÉmileDurkheim）所描述的那样。讨论法国作家让·吉内特（Jean Genet）对大众传媒时代常见的不太可能的图腾崇拜的探索时，本文认为，吉内特（Genet）的“宗教超社会学”论证了涂尔干宗教社会学可以提供对表面上世俗当代实践的见识的途径，包括粉丝社区的人。