(University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2015) Jeewa, Zakia; Wade, Jean-Philippe
The participatory internet has revolutionized fandoms, making possible de
territorialized virtual fan communities with enormous global memberships.
The article draws on Fiske’s notion of the autonomous ‘cultural economy’
produced by ordinary ‘active’ audiences, Jenkins’ notion of an emergent
‘participatory culture’ spearheaded by popular culture fans, and Huizinga’s
seminal study of ‘play’, to analyse two fan communities of Harry Potter and
The Vampire Diaries on the social media platform, Twitter, focusing on fan
role-playing, where fans either parodically masquerade as fictional characters
while commenting on usually topical events, or interact in dramatic dialogues
in the guise of fictional characters. The role-playing can be seen as a ludic
playing with identity that foregrounds subaltern agency.
