Select and deselect a category for different terms.

Theoretical Terms

The definition of anti-racism this project works with the everyday practices we incorporate to challenge racism in our networks and communities as well as institutions such as educational, political, cultural, and social. Anti-racist work from bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Angela Davis, and Sara Ahmed draw explicit connections between institutional racism and our everyday actions that either uphold or resist this racism. I use anti-racism as a framework to better understand how fans critique racism in both the source texts and their own fan communities. As the “feminism” definition shows, too, anti-racism and feminism are intertwined.

The definition of feminism this project works with is the everyday practices we incorporate to challenge systems of oppression in our networks and communities as well as institutions, such as educational, political, cultural, and social. I specifically build off feminists of color and Black feminists such as bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and Sara Ahmed, each who call for definitions of feminism to specifically include anti-capitalism, anti-racism, and queer politics (see the “queer” definition for why I use queer). Feminism is about liberation and the everyday practices we can incorporate to practice liberation, especially as larger institutions constraint, enact violence upon, and oppress women, queer folks, and people of color — especially women/non-cismen people of color. This project also recognizes how markers of identity are politically, socially, and culturally constructed, but still important to discuss as these markers are used to enact violence upon particular groups of people.

Sara Ahmed defines living a feminist life as, “asking ethical questions about how to live better in an unjust and unequal world (in a not-feminist and antifeminist world); how to create relationships with others that are more equal; how to find ways to support those who are not supported or are less supported by social systems; how to keep coming up against histories that have been concrete, histories that have become as solid as walls" (p. 1). What is crucial about Ahmed's definition, here, is that feminism is action, action that recognizes how our everyday lived experiences are shaped by our communities and larger institutions, such as social systems and education.

Heteronormativity

Heteronormativity, a term coined by Michael Warner in 1991, is the social theory that heterosexuality and gender as biological sex are conditioned as normal, while a sexual or gender identity that outside of these norms are conditioned as abnormal. Warner argues the systemic normalization of heterosexuality is a “site of violence.” Heteronormativity points to the systemic, compulsory nature of heterosexuality and cisgender identity; heteronormativity is perpetuated through political, social, and familial systems in order to continue family lineages and uphold “family values.” Critics of heteronormativity point to queer politics, or the resistance of normative sexual and gender identities, as necessary for disrupting these social and conditioned systems that enact violence upon queer people and women.

Heteronormativity also requires upholding and normalizing binary gender roles, notions of masculinity and femininity, in gender identity and presentation. This binary replicate hierarchical systems of power in which one gender is dominant over another; misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia is a requirement to uphold heteronormativity. However, as Judith Butler (1990) argues, “gender is not always constituted coherently or consistently in different historical contexts,” meaning that gender presentation and performance are not “natural” as biological sex argues; instead, gender is performative, a series of acts and aesthetic presentations that are socially, politically, and culturally constructed. Butler’s notion of gender as performative invites for fluctuating gender and sexual presentations, acts, and identities.

Ideology has a long, complicated history of conflicting definitions. This project defines ideology through the lens of social construction and rhetorical genre studies. Ideology is philosophical and political beliefs that encompass notions of citizenship, identity, and power as well as how these beliefs are enacted, reinscribed, or challenged through policy, culture, and everyday individual subject’s actions. Paré defines ideology as a “a process, a socially organized activity, as the daily practices of a society’s cultural, economic, and political institutions—practices that favor a dominant minority” (p 58).

Paré’s definition brings several important aspects of ideology. First, ideology is a “social organized” process, implying it is ever-fluctuating, contextualized, and recurring. Second, ideology is about power, especially how power is replicated and reified across institutions (cultural, economic, political, and educational). Finally, ideology is about “daily practices,” in that our everyday acts reinscribe or resist these dominant ideologies. In the context of other glossary terms in this dissertation, heteronormativity and white supremacy are both ideologies that require constant maintenance through individual and social actions.

Pedagogy are the methods and philosophies that drive how we teach and learn. In this dissertation, I refer to “critical pedagogy” which stems from Paulo Freire’s approach to teaching and learning that centers learners critically learning and articulating how social, political, and cultural systems impact how we see the world. For instance, language is a system that drives our understanding of the world, but language also acts as a system of power and oppression. Freire emphasizes student-centered learning in which learners develop their own critical thinking skills, rather than learning from a top-down approach. bell hooks builds upon Freire’s critical pedagogy to center anti-racism and feminism into teaching and learning.

For this project, I build upon bell hooks’ commitment to anti-racist and feminist pedagogy within the context of fandoms as “classrooms of the future” (Booth, 2015) as well as recognizing how we can integrate these methods of learning in our classroom.

Queer (politics and identity marker)

This project uses the word “queer” as both a political and social/identity marker. The culturally popular phrase, LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, plus), demonstrates an ever-expanding understanding of non-heteronormative gender and sexual positionalities and practices. I use the term queer, though, as ”queer” encompasses a wide range of identity categories and terms, while simultaneously critiquing how identity markers are used to categorize people and enact violence upon certain categories. Queer theorists have reclaimed the term “queer” as the word itself resists a permanent definition. Michael Warner argues the term queer “has the effect of pointing out a wide field of normalization, rather than simple intolerance, as the site of violence.” Queerness resists normativity, and even resists a permanent definition.

Restorying/Counterstorytelling

Counterstorytelling is a method used in critical race theory that presents stories and narratives that oppose dominant ideologies and narratives, as these ideologies uphold white supremacy and erase knowledges, stories, and perspectives from particular ethnic and racial groups. Restorying, a framework further explored by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas and Amy Stornaiuolo (2016), applies counterstorytelling to fandom practices in which composers — especially adolescent Black writers — transform a source text’s representational politics to include their own lived experiences and/or marginalized lived experiences.

Systems of Power

The phrase “systems of power/oppression” refers explicitly to political, social, educational, and cultural systems that maintain power for particular groups of people. Systems of power are often racist, classist, sexist, ableist, and heteronormative, enacting violence upon people who are prescribed into particular identity categories. For instance, educational institutions teach specific histories that may erase other histories, including how Native Americans are depicted within a larger United States curriculum. Often, Native American and Indigenous cultures and tribes are studied and the genocides that occurred may be discussed, but are often overlooked. What is also overlooked are the fact that many tribes are still here today; their land has been and still is seized by colonialism and they often receive, especially on reservations, little to no social support.

White supremacy

The political, cultural, and social systems that both define whiteness and mark whiteness as universal and normalized. The normalization of whiteness then others non-white racial and ethnic people, creating a hierarchy in which whiteness is superior, thus both enacting and normalizing systemic violence against non-white races. White supremacy both led to and is reinscribed by colonialism, which is the seizing of land, power, and culture from Indigenous people. White supremacy is upheld through political, social and cultural institutions, such as policing, mass incarceration, media representation, and education.

Rhetorical Genre Studies Terms

Critical Uptake

I define critical uptakes as uptakes in which the composer/author/writer explicitly resists exclusive and oppressive ideologies in their generic responses. Critical uptakes may be critiquing the ideologies embedded within the original genre and/or the ideologies embedded within the anticipated uptake. For instance, if a writing assignment calls for students to analyze a text through a potentially ableist lens, a critical uptake may be a student writing a piece about why the assignment is ableist instead of actually performing the expected assignment. In fandoms, a critical uptake may be a fanfiction that critiques racism in a fantasy television show, such as Game of Thrones, by focusing on the lived experiences and positionalities of characters of color who are overlooked in the source text.

Disruptakes are the actions the original genre composers take to force other composers to second-guess or rethink their uptakes, uptakes that may seem second-nature, as defined by Dylan Dryer (2016). For example, a teacher may pass out a test in class that asks students to not fill out the test until they finish reading all the questions. The last question, then, is for students to hand in a blank test with just their name at the top in order to pass. This disruptake asks students to rethink how they “take tests,” in that they do not write any responses to any of the questions that normally prompt a written response.

Genre

Genre, as defined by Carolyn Miller in 1984, are social actions that are rhetorical, recurring, and contextual. Instead of viewing genres as boxes within which we fit texts into, this view of genres provides a more fluid understanding of genre conventions, especially in disciplinary or institutional contexts. There are also particular ideologies embedded within genres. RGS is similar to performance studies, which builds out of feminism and gender studies; like gender, genre is viewed as a series of actions that are expected and ideological, but individuals may challenge these actions or reimagine these actions.

Rhetorical Genre Studies

A field in writing and rhetoric that understands genre as a social action and performance within particular contexts and institutions. RGS is often used in educational settings, such as writing courses, to not only help students participate within particular genres, but understanding the ideologies that drive certain genre conventions. RGS is also used to analyze texts as generic, or actions and performances within particular contexts and ideologies.

Uptake

The anticipated genre response to another genre, as deemed appropriate by context. Uptake demonstrates the interdependent relationship between genres, in one genre may anticipate another generic response, while the generic response often follows a set of conventions that seem like common sense. For instance, if I send out a wedding invitation with an RSVP card, I imagine the individual’s response will be filling out the RSVP card.

As uptake has developed in RGS, scholars like Anis Bawarshi, Dylan Dryer, and Heather Bastian trace anticipated uptakes and individual’s uptakes to reveal how dominant ideologies impact our actions and responses.

Within the context of fandoms, the term uptake has a different connotation as appropriate responses to particular genres are defined within and reinscribed through the actual communities. Uptake may be a particular fanfiction genre in response to a source text or a fanfiction in response to community discourse; uptake may also be the comments on a fanfiction.

Uptake Affordance

The genre that prompts an uptake and has a particular anticipated response, as defined by Dylan Dryer (2016). The uptake affordance is usually created by a person who has stake in the potential uptake as well as a set of expectations around how their text will be taken up. An example of an uptake affordance is a writing assignment designed in a First Year Writing course; the instructor usually has a particular set of expectations in designing this assignment and expects students to fulfill these expectations.

Uptake Artifact

The actual artifact to be studied, as defined by Dylan Dryer (2016). In this project, the fanfictions within the corpora are the uptake artifacts.

Uptake Enactment

The actual act of responding to a genre with another genre, as defined by Dylan Dryer (2015). In this project, I turn to interviews with fan authors to better understand their choices during their uptake enactment to better understand which re-actions are deemed appropriate or anticipated and why, as well as the ways in which these re-actions reinscribe or challenge dominant ideologies.

Communities and networks that are built and revolve around critiquing or disliking a source text or cultural icon. Antifandoms often revolve around notions of morality and critiquing texts due to their own moral standings or positionality. Antifandoms are particularly important, as Rebecca Wanzo (2015) argues, for Black fans who build their communities and networks through their critiques of white supremacy upheld in a popular culture text.

Canon

The source text upon which fandoms build. “Canon” as a noun can refer to the actual source text itself, or “canon” as a descriptor to what is deemed true within the source text. For instance, in the Game of Thrones canon, it is canon that Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen form a romantic relationship in season 8; canon refers both to this fact about the source text as well as the source text itself.

Critical Fans & Fandoms

Fans who critique systems of power — such as heteronormativity, racism, ableism, and misogyny — in the canon text, in their communities, and in larger social and cultural climates. Every fan can be a critical fan; what matters are the practices they implement to reimagine or resist these systems. Critical fans may have an array of identities that they use to mark themselves, such as feminists, anti-racists, activists, and revolutionaries.

Alexis Lothian’s definition of “critical fandom” builds off andré carrington’s work by defining how fan practices can be critical (or not): “critical fandoms [are] the ways that members of fan communities use diverse creative techniques to challenge the structures and representations around which their communities are organized” (Lothian 2018, p. 372). Lothian’s definition partially comes from Paul Booth’s (2012) call for academics to both “listen to fandom; and it is our responsibility as fans to promote critical fandom in all our work” (emphasis mine). Critical fandoms and critical fan studies, then, prioritize fan practices that actively challenge white supremacy, gender inequality, heteronormativity, and ableism in the source texts, fandoms, and fan studies.

Fandom

Communities and networks that are built and revolve around loving a source text or cultural icon. There are several types of fandoms, such as curative or transformative fandoms. Curative fandoms are built around knowing everything about the source text, such as a subreddit dedicated to analyzing a television show. Meanwhile, there are transformative fandoms, where the goal is to reimagine the source text in some way. This includes forms such as fan art, fanfiction, and fan vids. These fandoms are not always separate, as transformative fandom practices often require knowledge about and analysis of the source material.

Fiction written by a fan of a cultural material — such as a television show or movie — or icon — such as a celebrity or athlete. Fanfiction is usually written text published on a website, disseminated through zines, or even kept private. Usually, fanfiction is shared within a community or across communities of other fans who engage with it through reading, commenting, beta-ing (revising), collaborating, translating, and other forms of engagement. There are a bunch of fanfiction genres, including angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, and smut, all of which contain particular conventions, ideologies, and even sub-genres.

Ship

Ship, short for relationship, describes when a fan imagines two or more characters in a romantic relationship. Ship may be a noun or a verb (I ship/shipping). For instance, “I ship Korra/Asami” or “Korra/Asami is my favorite ship.”

Slashfic refers to pairing two characters, usually of the same gender, together through fandom activities. Slashfic comes from the literal forward slash (/) used between two characters' names, as originally found in Kirk/Spock fandoms. Ever since fan studies began appearing in the 1980s, slashfic has been a constant phenomenon of study in media/cultural studies, psychology, sociology, gender studies, and more. For instance, some scholars are interested why fans, especially lesbian and straight women, often ship two male characters? Why are fans less likely to ship two women characters together?

Data and Research Terms

A collection of texts to be used for research purposes. A corpus is the singular collection of texts, while corpora refers to multiple collections. The corpus used in the CFT is both The Legend of Korra and the Game of Thrones fan fictions published on Archive of Our Own.

Computational Text Analysis

Analyzing trends across a corpus to get a more distant view of overall patterns in a collection of texts. There are different types of methods for analysis, including word counts, collocation, concordances, topic modeling, and word embedding model.

Data

Information organized in a particular way. Data can be qualitative (descriptive, usually textual) or quantitative (numerical). How the word “data” is used may also shift depending on the discipline. In the humanities, data is usually qualitative with some quantitative data. For the CFT, the data are the individual fanfictions published on Archive of Our Own and the interview transcripts.

Data about data. Metadata is usually found in information about an individual text in an entire corpus. For example, if a book is considered data for your research, the metadata would be the bibliographic information about said book (the author, publication year, editorial press, etc.). For the CFT, the metadata are the information that describes each fanfiction, such as the publication date or the characters used in the fanfiction.

Qualitative Coding

Qualitative coding is a method for analyzing thematic patterns across qualitative data and marking up these patterns in order to count them. For the CFT, I used qualitative coding methods to mark up patterns across the interviews from the six fan authors.

Qualitative Coding Visualizations

These two visualizations represent an adjacency matrix and a correlation matrix across the different qualitative codes used to mark up the interviews. Description and screenreader-friendly write up available below.

Description

The full analysis of this visualization and all the interviews is available on the "Interview Analysis: Fan Authors' Perspectives of Fandom Politics, Genres, and their Uptakes" section.

The adjacency matrix and correlation matrix reveal similar results. The adjacency matrix shows a raw count of how often particular codes appear together, while the correlation matrix shows how likely two codes are to appear together. In both visualizations, there are strong relationships between identity markers and fan practices. For instance, several identity markers also overlap with how fans respond to the canon. The LGBTQ+ code appears frequently with the identity-bending generic forms and how fans relate to the canon. The feminism code appears frequently with fans complimenting the canon. The cultural difference tag appears frequently when fans express how they relate to the canon.

There are also higher relationships show between resisting and reinscribing dominant ideologies and fandom politics. For instance, heteronormativity appears frequently with fandom politics and antiracism appears frequently when fans describe their critical uptakes. This demonstrates the correlation between fanfiction authors’ positionalities with their fandom practices.

The code for creating these visualizations using the XML-encoded interview transcripts is available in the XML Parser Computational Notebook.