Proposal Title
#SoMuchGood: When the Rhetoric of a Fandom Builds a Community
Proposal Type
Individual Presentation
Location
Olscamp 201: Rhetoric of Collaboration
Start Date
21-10-2017 11:15 AM
End Date
21-10-2017 12:30 PM
Abstract
When does the love for a book turn into a fandom, and how does that fandom grow into a community with its own set of guiding rules and shared morals and responsibilities? The presenters will discuss the rhetorical moves that occurred to create, maintain, and operate a community that was formed based on a Harry Potter fandom, a passion for running, and a drive to do #somuchgood, The Hogwarts Running Club.
#SoMuchGood: When the Rhetoric of a Fandom Builds a Community
Olscamp 201: Rhetoric of Collaboration
When does the love for a book turn into a fandom, and how does that fandom grow into a community with its own set of guiding rules and shared morals and responsibilities? The presenters will discuss the rhetorical moves that occurred to create, maintain, and operate a community that was formed based on a Harry Potter fandom, a passion for running, and a drive to do #somuchgood, The Hogwarts Running Club.
Proposal
Using the scholarship of the rhetoric of fandoms as well as community literacy and rhetoric, the presenters will explore the Hogwarts Running Club (HRC), a charitable non-profit organization that combines a virtual running club and the Harry Potter fandom. To join the community, “There are no membership lists, no dues and no fees. You become a "member" of the Hogwarts Running Club simply by “liking” us on Facebook and admitting to yourself that you'd gladly leave your muggle friends and family if it meant you could study magic at Hogwarts.” The presenters will first discuss the intended and unintended audiences that occur in authorship and how fandoms emerge, while focusing specifically on the global Harry Potter phenomenon and what differentiates it from other fandoms in existence, whether literary or based in movies or videogames. The research will then dig into the rhetorical processes through which the Harry Potter fandom has transcended the world initially created, and maybe even intended, by the author to provide a refuge in a virtual familial environment where members sharing no other connections in real life rely on each other for support and encouragement. Presenters will explore the creation of HRC-specific terminology and members-only language identity (“turgle”, “noodle”, “cookie”) that additionally enhances the community feel and presents unique opportunities and challenges due to the club’s virtual existence. This project will also explore the ways members of the virtual community that was created have collaborated in real life in order to help those in need all around the world.