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Myytit Ja Yhteisölliset Fanirituaalit Televisiosarjojen Buffy Vampyyrintappaja, True Blood Ja Vampyyripäiväkirjat Faniudessa

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Myytit Ja Yhteisölliset Fanirituaalit Televisiosarjojen Buffy Vampyyrintappaja, True Blood Ja Vampyyripäiväkirjat Faniudessa Teologinen tiedekunta Helsingin yliopisto FANIUS MUUTTI ELÄMÄNI Myytit ja yhteisölliset fanirituaalit televisiosarjojen Buffy vampyyrintappaja, True Blood ja Vampyyripäiväkirjat faniudessa Minja Blom AKATEEMINEN VÄITÖSKIRJA joka Helsingin yliopiston Teologisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella esitetään julkisesti tarkastettavaksi salissa PIII, Porthania, lauantaina 10. huhtikuuta 2021 klo 10. Helsinki 2021 Copyright © 2021 Minja Blom ISBN 978-951-51-7131-3 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-51-7132-0 (PDF) Unigrafia Helsinki 2021 ABSTRACT This study examines how fandom connects with the current religious landscape where people can build meaning and communities through stories and practices that they choose for themselves. The media and popular culture have a strong presence in people’s everyday lives, and they affect how people understand themselves and their reality. This multidisciplinary study combines the study of religions and fan studies to examine how people use popular culture to answer existential questions and needs that have usually been associated with the cultural realm of religion. This study concentrates on the everyday meaning-making of fans and how it can interplay with religious myths and rituals. This thesis answers the following research questions: What kinds of characteristics of myth and ritual can be found in the fandom of vampire-themed television shows? What do these characteristics tell us about the relationship between religion and popular culture in our contemporary culture? This study examines the fandom of vampire-themed television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), True Blood (2008–2014) and Vampire Diaries (2009–2017). I chose this topic because these shows were extremely popular, and because they also connected with the tradition of vampire folklore by discussing cultural values and norms. My research material consists of fan discussions that I collected from open access online fan forums and fan sites. I used netnography as a method of collecting my research material. I concentrated on the discussions in which fans talked about the meaning of these shows in their everyday life or used the shows to discuss societal values and norms. As an analysis method, I used qualitative content analysis. This method allowed me to analyse the vast body of material and find the central themes that connected these fandoms with the concepts of myth and ritual. To understand the connections between myths and fandom, I used William G. Doty’s concept of polyfunctional myth (2000) as a theoretical basis for my analysis. Through Doty’s theory, I constructed a myth model that concentrates on the metaphors and heroic models that fans identify with in the vampire shows. My 1 analysis shows how these television shows function as myths to fans in two ways: 1) The characters and storylines are read as metaphors for reality and people’s everyday lives 2) Fans see some of the characters as heroic models that they can, and want to, emulate in real life. I analyse fan practices through the concept of fan rituals, which I have adapted from Johanna Sumiala’s understanding of media rituals (2010). Fan practices function as communal fan rituals that connect people with imagined communities via the media, but also with communities formed by close friends and family. The communal aspects of rituals are central in fan rituals, but fans also use viewing practices to break free from their everyday life and find new strength. Part of fan rituals are also so-called “the show changed my life” stories that fans share online. These stories express how fans have given meaning to the shows and fandom as something that helped them get through life crises and hard times. Analysing fan discussions through the concepts of myth and ritual has provided a way of identifying significant connections between contemporary religiosity and fandom. These connections express how current cultural reality provides people with more options in choosing ways to understand their reality and make it personally meaningful. The myths and rituals that are connected with fandom show how people can use popular culture to reflect on cultural values and norms, find heroic models to follow, break free from everyday troubles, create and maintain communities, and find support and solace in life crises. This study shows how both fandom and religion can have similar roles in our current cultural reality that emphasises personal choices and meanings. Studying fandom through myths and fan rituals provides important perspectives on the profound meanings popular culture can have in people’s everyday lives. 2 KIITOKSET Väitöstutkimuksen teko, kuten kaikki tieteellinen tutkimus, on monella tavoin yh- teisöllistä toimintaa, jota kukaan ei voi tehdä yksin. Väitöstutkimukseen kuuluu yk- sinäistä puurtamista, mutta luonteeltaan se on kuitenkin yhteisöllinen aikaansaan- nos, joka rakentuu aiempien tutkijoiden työlle, tutkijan saamaan ohjaukseen, tie- deyhteisön tukeen ja tutkimustyön arjessa syntyviin kohtaamisiin. Väitöskirjatut- kimukseni ajan olenkin voinut tukeutua mahtaviin ohjaajiini, tiedeyhteisöön, työ- kavereihini sekä perheeseeni, jotka ovat mahdollistaneet tutkimukseni valmistumi- sen. Saamastani tuesta haluan ensimmäiseksi kiittää ohjaajiani. Yliopistonlehtori Heikki Pesonen on pro gradu -työstäni asti tukenut kiinnostustani uskonnon ja po- pulaarikulttuurin tutkimukseen. Olen Heikille kiitollinen siitä, että hän kannusti minua hakemaan tohtoriopintoihin ja oli valmis ottamaan ohjattavakseen uskonto- tieteen perinteisistä aiheista poikkeavan tutkimukseni. Väitöstutkimukseni ei olisikaan toteutunut ilman Heikin kannustusta ja tukea, sekä halua edistää uskon- non ja populaarikulttuurin tutkimusta Helsingin yliopiston uskontotieteen oppiai- neessa. Kiitän myös toista ohjaajani akatemiatutkija Outi Hakolaa, jonka laajaan median, populaarikulttuurin ja faniuden tutkimukselliseen osaamiseen olen voinut tukeutua. Outi onkin auttanut merkittävästi monitieteisen tutkimukseni synnyssä. Lisäksi Outi on ollut sydämellinen ja kannustava ohjaaja, jonka kommenteista olen aina saanut uutta voimaa jatkaa eteenpäin. Tutkimukseni ohjaavana professorina toiminutta Tuula Sakaranahoa kiitän erityi- sesti tutkimuksen loppuvaiheessa saamastani tärkeästä palautteesta, jonka avulla pystyin työstämään väitöskirjastani parhaan mahdollisen version esitarkastukseen. Kiitän väitöskirjani esitarkastajia, professori Kaarina Nikusta ja dosentti Sofia Sjötä heidän antamastaan palautteesta. Kannustava palautteenne ja tekemänne huomiot edistivät työni viimeistelyä lopulliseksi väitöskirjaksi. Kiitän myös väitöksessäni kustoksena toimivaa apulaisprofessori Katja Valaskiveä avusta ja positiivisesta asenteesta poikkeusajan väitökseen valmistautumisessa. 3 Väitöskirjatutkimuksen ajan olen kuulunut Helsingin yliopiston uskontotieteen op- piaineen työyhteisöön. Haluankin kiittää kaikkia siihen kuuluvia ja aiemmin kuu- luneita professoreja, yliopistonlehtoreita ja tutkijoita, joiden kanssa olen vuosien varrella saanut työskennellä. Tähän työyhteisöön kuuluminen on ollut väitöstutki- mukseni yksi suurimmista iloista ja olen kiitollinen teille kaikille siitä. Kiitos kai- kille, jotka ovat jakaneet kanssasi ideoita ja ajatuksia sekä työn iloja ja suruja. Kiitos myös jokaiselle, joka on antanut palautetta tutkimuksestani ja kannustanut minua eteenpäin. Erityisen kiitoksen osoitan vielä väitöskirjatutkija Nina Maskulinille, jonka kanssa olen yhdessä kulkenut väitöskirjamatkaani. Jaettu kiinnostus uskonnon ja popu- laarikulttuurin tutkimukseen on johtanut moniin yhteisiin projekteihin, ja kiitän- kin Ninaa yhteistyöstä, ystävyydestä ja tuesta. Kiitän myös uskontotieteen tutkija- kollegoja Turun yliopistosta ja Åbo Akademista, joiden kanssa olen saanut jakaa ajatuksia ja ideoita muun muassa Tvärminnen seminaareissa ja konferensseissa. Taloudellisesta tuesta kiitän Helsingin yliopistoa, joka on sekä matka-apurahoin että väitöskirjan loppuunsaattamisrahan avulla edistänyt työtäni. Haluan kiittää vielä kaikkia ystäväni saamastani tuesta ja kannustuksesta. Väitös- kirjatyöskentelyn aikana olen myös aina voinut tukeutua vanhempiini Leenaan ja Lennart-Erikiin sekä siskooni Minkaan ja hänen perheeseensä. Kiitos kaikesta avusta ja tuesta. Kiitän vanhempiani myös siitä, että he ovat aikanaan herättäneet minussa kiinnostuksen tiedettä, taidetta ja populaarikulttuuria kohtaan, mikä on osaltaan johtanut tämän tutkimuksen syntyyn. Kiitos Minkalle puolestaan siitä, että hän innosti minua katsomaan Buffya, ja hän on aina ollut valmis keskustelemaan ja antamaan palautetta tutkimuksestani. Lopuksi kiitän vielä tärkeintä tukijaani, poikaani Albertia, joka tuo jokaiseen päivääni huumoria, iloa ja valoa. Nurmijärvellä Kalevalan päivänä 2021 Minja Blom 4 SISÄLLYS 1. JOHDANTO 1.1. Tutkimusaihe ja tutkimuskysymykset ......................................................... 7 1.2. Henkilökohtaistunut uskonnollisuus medioituneessa nykykulttuurissa . 10 1.3. Uskonto ja populaarikulttuuri tutkimuksen kohteena .............................. 19 1.4. Fanius ja uskonto ....................................................................................... 25 1.5. Uskonto, myytti ja rituaali tutkimuksessani.............................................. 37 1.6. Tutkimuksen rakenne ............................................................................... 40 2. AINEISTO JA METODIT 2.1. Aineisto ja netnografia aineiston keruun metodina .................................. 43 2.2. Laadullinen sisällönanalyysi ja analyysin kulku ......................................
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