Recent years have seen an increase in alternative forms of religiosity and spirituality. In particular, a variety of alternative metaphysics and spiritualities are developing that explicitly integrate fiction, particularly fantasy, within their various paradigms. Such worldviews are notable in that they are not limited to the traditional realms of religious and spiritual engagement, but rather they extend comfortably into the worlds of contemporary popular and digital culture. This thesis is an exploration of the joint locales of fiction and new media as they relate to various forms of contemporary alternative metaphysics and spirituality. Starting with the particular case of the Otherkin, this thesis seeks to contextualize alternative beliefs that utilise fiction in relation to the broader cultural context within which they are occurring. This focus upon contextualisation emerges from the position that religious and spiritual ideologies that are heavily premised within popular culture will likely resist etic interpretation unless viewed in light of other contemporary non-religious cultural behaviours. This thesis endeavours to achieve three main goals: firstly, the provision of general information about the Otherkin as an exemplary instance of this confluence of themes; secondly, an exploration of parallel and intersecting behaviours and philosophies to be found within popular culture and occulture; and thirdly, to utilise an interpretative framework for such beliefs that does not require recourse to consumerist narratives. The discussion of alternative metaphysical beliefs and their situation finds its locus in the Otherkin; a loosely affiliated group of individuals who believe themselves to be in some way non-human. The types of creatures the Otherkin associate themselves with are sourced from numerous locales, from ancient mythological and folkloric narrative through to contemporary films and games. By exploring the various representations of the entities as well as the locales within which they occur, this thesis tracks a path through fiction and mythology, fan cultures and world creation, and occulture and the Internet.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/279376 |
| Creators | Danielle Kirby |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
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