Fluidity in Shoebox Project by Kasandra Arthur A
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We Are Having All Kinds of Fun: Fluidity in Shoebox Project by Kasandra Arthur A thesis presented to the University Of Waterloo in fulfilment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2018 © Kasandra Arthur 2018 Examining Committee Membership The following served on the Examining Committee for this thesis. The decision of the Examining Committee is by majority vote. External Examiner Katherine Larsen Teaching Assistant Professor Supervisor(s) Neil Randall Associate Professor Internal Member Aimée Morrison Associate Professor Internal-external Member Nicolas Gauthier Assistant Professor Other Member(s) Beth Coleman Associate Professor ii Author’s Declaration: I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. iii Abstract: Made public on LiveJournal between 2004 and 2008, Shoebox Project (SBP) is a multimedia fanfic written by ladyjaida and dorkorific. The plot takes place before that of the Harry Potter novels, detailing the last two years of Hogwarts for the Marauders – Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter – conveying its narrative through prose, dialogue, handwritten letters, handwritten notes, pictures, and hand drawn sketches. SBP represents evidence of its authors negotiating of Remus Lupin. Specifically, through the layered processes of reading and writing, dorkorific and ladyjaida interpret and construct their understanding of authorship and their perception of the Potterverse. In so doing, they make clear the inherent fluidity of these concepts. However, despite the fluidity so central to SBP and to its fannish context, ladyjaida and dorkorific also work to actively reiterate binaries around gender, sex, and desire in their construction of Remus and Sirius’s sexuality. The specific content of SBP reflects this: the phrasing, references, and fanart among a myriad of other particularities shape this fluidity or lack thereof. The ways in which dorkorific and ladyjaida engage with the HPfandom through SBP’s content also reflect this. Moreover, their playful engagement with the concepts of reading and writing, authorship, the Potterverse, and desire signal ladyjaida and dorkorific’s masterful engagement with fannish traditions in such a way so as to reaffirm those very same fannish traditions. iv Acknowledgements: I want to extend my gratitude to the many people who facilitated this project. I want to thank Dr. Neil Randall for his supervision, and committee members Drs. Beth Coleman, Nicolas Gauthier, and Katherine Larsen. I’d particularly like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Aimée Morrison, also a committee member, for working so extensively with me. I’d also like to acknowledge the support of the administrative staff of the department of English Language and Literature who have consistently helped me throughout my tenure as a doctoral student and candidate. I would also like to thank those who have supported me beyond the university walls. I owe a debt of gratitude to my friends and colleagues who have talked with me about the subject matter of this project, sometimes out of genuine interest, sometimes out of shared fannish fascination, but mostly out of an understanding that I needed to talk about it. Additionally, I would like to thank my employers, especially Broadview Press, who have ensured my livelihood throughout this degree and, in so doing, have facilitated the financial, mental, and physical health necessary to complete this project. I would like to thank my partner, Kyle Wright. His constant emotional, intellectual, domestic, financial, and technical support has been absolutely integral to the completion of this project as well as to my health and happiness. Finally, I would like to thank the fandom communities which I study and in which I participate. The thoughtful, nuanced, critical, and gleeful engagement of these communities has inspired me both personally and academically since my childhood and continues to do so daily. v Table of Contents We Are Having All Kinds of Fun: Fluidity in Shoebox Project .................................................................... i Examining Committee Membership ......................................................................................................... ii Author’s Declaration: ............................................................................................................................... iii Abstract: ................................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements: .................................................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures: ....................................................................................................................................... viii List of Abbreviations: ............................................................................................................................. xii Introduction: I Solemnly Swear That I’m Up To No Good .......................................................................... 1 Shoebox Project ........................................................................................................................................ 2 HP and the HPfandom ............................................................................................................................ 14 SBP as it relates to HPfandom ................................................................................................................ 18 Fanfic ...................................................................................................................................................... 20 Studying fanfic ........................................................................................................................................ 23 What, specifically, is my work? .............................................................................................................. 27 Fluidity .................................................................................................................................................... 30 Methodologies......................................................................................................................................... 31 Chapter One: Reading, Writing, and Meaning ........................................................................................... 34 Fanfic and Negotiating Meaning............................................................................................................. 34 Writing Meaning onto Readings ............................................................................................................. 39 Remus Language ..................................................................................................................................... 49 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 72 Chapter Two: Navigating Authorship ......................................................................................................... 73 Fanfic and Authorship: SBP’s Context ................................................................................................... 73 Negotiations Enacted .............................................................................................................................. 79 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 119 Chapter Three: The Potterverse ................................................................................................................ 121 Objects and Subjects of Fandom ........................................................................................................... 121 Reading Dorkorific and Ladyjaida’s Potterverse .................................................................................. 129 Building the Potterverse ........................................................................................................................ 141 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 144 vi Chapter Four: Gender, Sex, and Desire in SBP ........................................................................................ 145 The Heterosexual Matrix and Fag Positionality ................................................................................... 145 Constructing and Policing Binaries in SBP .......................................................................................... 148 The Queer Context of SBP ................................................................................................................... 183 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 194 Conclusion: Mischief Managed? 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