of fans or fan activities: (obsessively) concerned with matters of criticism or scholarship, rather than fandom itself; cf. faan n.
[< serious and constructive]
serious constructive fan. One who thinks fan activity is less of a hobby than a means of advancing mankind toward the utopias described in science fiction. Serious constructiveness also extends to…publishing ‘high-minded’ fanzines in order to impress and recruit outsiders.]
Serious Constructive Fan…. This fan often believes he has a Mission in fandom; he labors for some lofty Purpose…. The abbreviation infrequently used is ‘SerConFan’.
But TTT [a zine] wasn’t 100% ‘sercon’ (today’s fannish term for ‘serious-constructive’—usually mentioned with derision).
One of the best 'zines on the market…. It’s a ‘sercon’ effort, with plenty of humor in a satirical vein. Ibid 122/2 [He] is more or less ‘sercon’ but this is (to my way of thinking) a desirable trait in a science-fiction fan—as opposed to jazz fans, sports-car fans, comics fans and other enthusiasts who are apt to decry a ‘sercon’ interest in science fiction.
What do sercon fanzines signify? To treat that is to ask: What part does trivia—nonearthshaking nonevents—play in anybody’s life?
You'll find plenty to entertain you. Not every fan activity is sercon.
Issue Number 52 of this ‘sercon’ zine features an informative profile of the late Doc Lowndes by Mike Ashley.
antedating 1957
SF Quarterly
Last modified 2021-01-02 09:56:08
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.