I ranted about that asshat Saitou in my review of that book. Man, I hate (Freudian) psychoanalysis. And on that note I'll definitely have to check out Deleuze and Guattari, because I too dislike the idea of structuring desire as a lack--though I think the supposed universality of that opens up some intriguing possibilities in science fiction.

*hangs head* I haven't read Jenkins; the closest I've got is that I'm friends with someone who works in his research lab and is heavily influenced by him. I will say, though, that in my experience I think that his ideas about transmedia are generally on target but don't go far enough--taking the case of Star Wars, for example, I definitely think that there's an overarching narrative that fans buy into at the most basic level and then go on to create multiple small narratives out of other facets at the universe, both from that universe's elements and, crucially, from the fannish database of fan tropes that transcends any single fandom--like, say, the "five things" fanfiction meme. Or cabin!fic.

I think some content producers are totally down with fanworks, while others (like Eric Kripke, curses upon him) actually hate (certain kinds of) fans and actively try to dissuade fans from partaking of their creations. But some people have seemed to grasp the idea that fanworks = free marketing, anyway.

Thanks! We'll see about conferences; I'm definitely going to attend the Association for Asian Studies in March and SGMS in September. Maybe possibly also one of the regional AAS conferences and Popular Culture Association, but more likely not.