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ERIC Number: EJ1047207
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2042-7530
EISSN: N/A
Contrasting Visions: Identity, Literacy, and Boundary Work in a Fan Community
Korobkova, Ksenia A.; Black, Rebecca W.
E-Learning and Digital Media, v11 n6 p619-632 2014
This article focuses on learning and identity-related practices of young female fans of a popular British boy band called One Direction. Drawing on qualitative inquiry into a fanfiction community formed around the band, analysis highlights (a) the literate work fans engage in, including writing, reading, critiquing, and collaborating on multimodal texts, (b) identity work performed by the fans with respect to what it means to be a true fan, a teen, and an effective writer within this community, and (c) ways in which the literate and identity work weave together to inform participation and identification in the "One Direction" fanfiction community, creating both links and ruptures between young people's out-of-school and in-school spaces. Analyses center on the ways the fans themselves define their involvement, with a focus on subgroup identities. Interview data highlight the ways fans used linguistic, technological, and social resources to stake out certain identities and to negotiate status within the site. Although power-laden dynamics defined community participation, fans felt ownership over their literacy and identity production practices, often drawing a contrast to school practices. We then discuss the meanings youth make of their fan practices and their contrastive experiences in fan and school spaces, connecting study findings to current debates on the import of pop culture in formal schooling.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia; United Kingdom; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A