Ce travail doctoral consiste en une observation mémique des phénomènes de résistance caractéristiques des pratiques de fans sur les médias sociaux. L'objectif est double : d'une part, resituer les fans et les producteurs de sens officiels dans la fonction qu'ils tiennent respectivement au sein de la structure de la production culturelle de manière à en exposer les rapports de force. Pour ce faire, nous ciblerons notre analyse sur un type de fans spécifique, ceux réunis autour de thématiques queer visibles ou non dans les séries télévisées américaines et qui utilisent la technologie numérique dans leurs démarches de réécriture et de contestation de l'état actuel de la représentation télévisuelle des diverses identités et expériences sociales.Un recours à la théorie mémique nous permettra, d'autre part, d'envisager les acteurs impliqués dans les dynamiques qui s'opèrent au sein de la structure de production et de réception des contenus culturels, non plus selon la fonction qu'ils occupent, mais en s'intéressant à la formation de ces fonctions en amont au gré d'idées qui voyagent et d'informations qui s'encodent. La mémétique en tant que théorie évolutionniste darwinienne représentera un outil nécessaire à la compréhension de la formation des groupes et des dynamiques qui régissent leurs interactions, et rendra ainsi possible une conception des groupes « fans » et « producteurs » en tant que super-organismes, soit en tant que complexes sociaux formés d'individus mus par un mème commun. Nous nous emploierons donc, à travers l'analyse de la transmission des récits LGBTQ sur le paradigme des séries TV américaines, à conceptualiser la résistance en tant que phénomène mémique résultant de l'ascendance d'un super-organisme sur un autre. / This dissertation aims at looking at the phenomena of fan resistance on social media through the memetic perspective. The objective is twofold: on one hand, to determine the function held by fans and official meaning-makers in the overall structure of cultural production as to reveal their power dynamics. For that purpose, we shall focus on a specific type of fans, namely television fans who connect around queer matters – whether those matters are broached in American TV contents or not – and who make digital technology part of their rewriting practices as well as their protests against the lack of diversity and authentic representation in current US television shows.On the other hand, adopting the meme's eye view will allow us to contemplate these power dynamics between fans and producers by questioning the mecanisms at play in the formation of each of their functions in the production/reception structure. Memetics understood as a Darwinian theory of cultural evolution shall prove to be an efficient tool for interpreting the creation of groups and group interactions, and thus allow us to conceptualize "fans" and "producers" as superorganisms, social complexes of individuals driven by a common meme. We will, through an analysis of the ways in which LGBTQ television narratives are transmitted, problematize fan resistance to cultural contents as a memetic instance: a battle between superorganisms.

Representations of Blacks have had its limitations on television. The Black sitcom has proven to be a fruitful place of analysis as it relates to the presence of Black bodies and the portrayal of Black culture. The lack of accurate depictions and the portrayal of a diverse Black culture has been a challenge for many years. The Cosby Show (1984-92) however, has been hailed for representations of Blacks as upper class, educated, and portraying a two-parent house hold. With this, an overwhelming amount of scholarly research on Black sitcoms surrounds The Cosby Show. Other shows that have a fair amount of scholarship include Amos and Andy (1951-53-) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-96). As I am constantly reminded through song lyrics and social networks that my peers are still reflecting about the sitcom Martin, I am also intrigued by its lack of exploration by scholars in the field. As Martin does not portray status and wealth, or educated professionals it is my assumption that this lack of research is reflection of the presumed low significance of the show. There appears to be an obvious divergence between academic and Hollywood's coverage of the show and viewers engagement with the show. 15 years after the show has aired new episodes, many of my peers indulge as if it never left. This paper seeks to further explore the sitcom and its critiques. Through a survey I poll viewers to explore how viewer's opinions can inform future discussions about the show. My exploration of the show through song lyrics, social network posts and survey results will reveal valuable components and complicate discourse of the shows reception, ultimately contributing to the scholarship on Black sitcoms. / text

This dissertation project provides a methodological contribution to the field of critical rhetoric by positioning narrative theory as a powerful yet underutilized tool for examining the power dynamic between producer and consumer in a participatory media context. Drawing on theories of author and audience from rhetorical narratology, this study shows how producers of media texts provide rhetorical cues to audiences that allow them to reassert their power in the form of creative authority vis-à-vis consumers. The genre of professional wrestling serves as an ideal text for examining such power dynamics, as WWE has adapted to changing fan participatory behaviors throughout its sixty-year history. Focusing on pivotal moments in which WWE altered its narrative address to its audience in order to reassert its control over the production process, this study demonstrates the utility of narrative theory for understanding how creative authority shows power at work in media texts. Further, this study situates rhetorical narratology in conversation with theories of rhetorical persona, scholarship on subcultures, and the discursive construction of the “people.” In so doing, I show how a nuanced understanding of author and audience augments critical rhetorical scholarship’s focus on power. Finally, by applying narrative theory as a method for both close textual analysis of single texts as well as a tool for piecing together a critical text from narrative fragments, I also address questions of the role of the text in rhetorical criticism and the role of authorship in an era when audiences exert influence on media texts as they are produced.

This study seeks to understand ways in which members’ experience a sense of belonging within Sephora’s own commodified community: Beauty Insider. Three research questions are presented, the final one being of highest importance: in which way do members of Beauty Insider experience a sense of belonging? To be able to understand the members, previous research is presented where Muniz & O’Guinn’s (2001) study on Brand Communities is essential, as well as the study conducted by Dholakia et al. (2004) on participation within communities. To better understand what activities members engage in within communities, a theoretical framework based on fan cultures, consumer culture and participatory culture is presented to gain a better understanding of the aspects of a community. This study will approach the research questions mainly using focus group interviews, as well as a necessary description of the discourse content of the platform to better understand the context of the study. The study concludes by presenting a result and an analysis that is, mostly, in line with previous research as well as discovering new aspects of members attitudes towards Beauty Insider and which meaning members experience as a result of participating in different activities within the community.

A new sub-culture, “Rotten Culture (腐文化) ”, evolved from Japanese Boys’ Love (BL) manga, has rapidly spread in China and dramatically influenced many areas of Chinese artistic creation. “Rotten Culture” is an extension of Boys’ Love, which indicates that Boys’ Love elements not only existed in manga, but emerged in anime, movies, TV series, and so on. As a start of an analysis of this phenomenon, this thesis will focus on the core of “Rotten Culture”, Boys’ Love, which exists in Chinese manga and web fiction. The central issues addressed by this thesis are: exploring the circulation of Boys’ Love from Japan to China; examining the aesthetics and themes of some of these works; and analyzing the motivations that explain why such a huge amount of people, both professional and non-professional, have joined in creating Boys’ Love art works. / Graduate

This dissertation offers a historical and cultural analysis of the highly controversial Japanomania (ha-ri) phenomenon in East Asia with a special focus on post-authoritarian Taiwan. Despite its colonial relations with Japan and its relatively small population of twenty-three million, Taiwan has become the largest market for Japanese trendy dramas outside Japan in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Attracted by these Japanese idol dramas, pop music and fashion, many Taiwanese youths became loyal to anything Japanese. The Japanomania phenomenon in Taiwan aroused stringent public condemnation for being detrimental to national pride and was commonly regarded as a social pathology. I offer my intervention into this debate by arguing that Japanomania consumption has little to do with nostalgia towards Japanese colonization. Rather, Japanomania is best understood as a response to the particular, lived conditions of the generation of Taiwanese who came of age in the 1990s. Given the prevalence of Japanomania among this generation, and given the fact that this was the same generation of young voters who were key to the election of the first opposition party President in 2000, it is remarkable that the connections between these two significant youth movements have been overlooked in existing scholarship. Based on my research and on my own lived experience and participation in both of these movements, I argue that Japanomania discourse in fact played a crucial role in Taiwan's democratization and nation-building in the 1990s. To de-mystify the intensive consumption of Japanese popular culture in Taiwan, I critically analyze interviews, online Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), historical archives, Japanese TV dramas, and political campaign materials. Such mediated forms give us access to the fluid and mobile field of subject formation in a transitional society. I conclude that transnational culture serves as a medium for Taiwanese politics, and for the current fourth generation in particular. In addition, I suggest that transcultural consumption has political potential not only in Taiwan but also in other contexts such as the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Southeast Asia. This dissertation tackles some of the most fundamental questions in communication studies: the influence of media on politics and the role that people play in making meaning in the context of democratization and globalization. By creating a dialog between this East Asian cultural phenomenon and Western critical theories of culture and globalization, my research also contributes to the development of a multilevel and multicultural approach to discourse, audience studies and globalization studies.

<p>The main purpose of this essay is to study ideas concerning the concept of ”art” within the discourse of the exhibition space that is part of a fanart community. In order to do so I have used a hermeneutical and to some extent structuralistic, discourse analysis. I have examined structure and rhetorics in two established and popular communities, Fanart-Central and deviantART.</p><p>My conclusions states that personal ideas regarding artistic value are undermined the joint policies, because of a collective rhetoric somewhat inherent in the community structure.</p><p>When a lot of works are being based on internal knowledge of symbolics and historical narratives, this may to some extent have consequences where unfamiliar observers might fail to notice elements of possible significance. Moreover, certain interests in keeping a united front of “quality art” may also affect a general idea immediate to what signifies fanart. By means of for example categorization, censure, and quality control, specific standards of “good art” are framed and conceded within the communities. Trying to sustain specific criteria as emblematic for the entire genre like this seems highly restraining, and also contradicts the essentially liberal principals of fan culture.</p>

The main purpose of this essay is to study ideas concerning the concept of ”art” within the discourse of the exhibition space that is part of a fanart community. In order to do so I have used a hermeneutical and to some extent structuralistic, discourse analysis. I have examined structure and rhetorics in two established and popular communities, Fanart-Central and deviantART. My conclusions states that personal ideas regarding artistic value are undermined the joint policies, because of a collective rhetoric somewhat inherent in the community structure. When a lot of works are being based on internal knowledge of symbolics and historical narratives, this may to some extent have consequences where unfamiliar observers might fail to notice elements of possible significance. Moreover, certain interests in keeping a united front of “quality art” may also affect a general idea immediate to what signifies fanart. By means of for example categorization, censure, and quality control, specific standards of “good art” are framed and conceded within the communities. Trying to sustain specific criteria as emblematic for the entire genre like this seems highly restraining, and also contradicts the essentially liberal principals of fan culture.

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Comic books are one of the many popular cultural forms that attract, as part of their audience, a committed readership that engages in a participatory relationship as part of a shared interest in the text. In common with other media forms, this engagement expresses itself in a variety of ways, including interaction with other readers online and face-to-face at conventions, correspondence with producers, and the creation of textual products. Other features of the discourses and practices of this community may be more specific to the comic book readership. One of the most interesting of these is a participatory belief, widely expressed by readers, that they can influence the story content of the published comic book and that comic books are unique among other media forms in this. In this thesis, I investigate several aspects of this belief, in order to offer a more nuanced understanding of the participatory involvement that readers have in comic books, particularly the superhero comic books that dominate American comic book culture. First, I examine whether this participatory belief is supported by evidence from published comic books by undertaking a content analysis of the letter columns and story pages of comic books. Next, I explore the discourses of online comic book culture that relate to authorship and the boundaries of participation and show how the rules of textual engagement that are held by readers shape the interactions between readers and producers. Finally, I look for alternative participatory spaces that are available to comic book readers, finding these in a contested form of engagement with comic books, that of exploring the fictional universes of the text. This approach imagines the text as the representation of a non-actual world, to which the comic book is an incomplete window. Theorising this mode of engagement leads to a conceptualisation of participation that makes visible a participatory space that has been previously overlooked by academic fan studies, and that complicates the existing models of participatory culture.