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Negotiating the Interconnections of Sociality, Identity, Fan Activism and Connectivity Within the Twilight Community University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Theses and Dissertations 2015 Negotiating The nI terconnections of Sociality, Identity, Fan Activism And Connectivity Within The wT ilight Community Amy A. O’Brien University of South Carolina Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation O’Brien, A. A.(2015). Negotiating The Interconnections of Sociality, Identity, Fan Activism And Connectivity Within The Twilight Community. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/3685 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NEGOTIATING THE INTERCONNECTIONS OF SOCIALITY, IDENTITY, FAN ACTIVISM AND CONNECTIVITY WITHIN THE TWILIGHT COMMUNITY by Amy A. O’Brien Bachelor of Arts Kennesaw State University, 2005 Master of Arts Georgia State University, 2008 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Carolina 2015 Accepted by: Kimberly Simmons, Major Professor Kimberly Cavanagh, Committee Member Jennifer Reynolds, Committee Member Sherina Feliciano-Santos, Committee Member Lacy Ford, Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies © Copyright by Amy A. O’Brien, 2015 All Rights Reserved. ii DEDICATION My research is dedicated twofold: First, to the fans of the Twilight series who inspired me to see fandom as something more. I hope that this project helps people to see beyond common stereotypes of adult, female fans of the Twilight series. Second, to my loving parents, Michael and Carol O’Brien, who supported and encouraged me even when this process felt impossible. Thank you for enduring this with me and never losing faith in me. It means so much that you believed in me even when I had trouble believing in myself. I love you both dearly. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks go to the fans of the Twilight series and members of Esme’s Heart who took the time to share their experiences with me, the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Carolina, and my committee of Drs. Kimberly Simmons, Kimberly Cavanagh, Jennifer Reynolds, and Sherina Feliciano-Santos. I would also like to thank Dr. Marc Moskowitz, Dr. Kate Adams, Cat Keegan, Dr. Susan Smith, Calli Ensor, Katie and Kira Saracen, and all my encouraging colleagues who supported me throughout this process. I am forever grateful for the support of my friends and family, all of whom helped me to reach the finish line through their support. To my nieces and nephew, Ashley, Vincent, Emily, Catherine and Madeline: thank you all for being my sunshine and bringing such love and joy into my life. I especially want to thank my sister, Sunny, for always welcoming me into her home and heart, listening to my stressed ramblings, and making me laugh with Latin jokes, Joseph songs, and memories of secret childhood messages. For all these things and more, thank you for being my sister and friend. In closing, I genuinely believe undertakings such as this are accomplished through a collective effort. Thank you to everyone who invested in me and helped me to accomplish this goal. It means more than you will ever know. iv ABSTRACT In my dissertation, “Negotiating the Interconnections of Sociality, Identity, Fan Activism and Connectivity within the Twilight Community”, I examine the ways in which women employed a shared interest in a cultural text to establish meaningful social relationships with other fans. Rather than focusing solely on consumptive pleasure, these fans of the Twilight series utilized the intense popularity of the franchise to engage in charitable activities. Through these common threads of identity, community, virtual technologies, and charity, I contend that the Twilight fandom represents a new form of fan community, which is trending upward and creating an impact beyond the traditional sphere of fandom. The internet and virtual technologies continue to increase the interconnectedness between people, and the ways in which experiences –online and offline—intermingle and flow back and forth to create vibrant fan communities that impact the world with both consumptive pleasure and altruistic intentions. As such, it becomes relevant to understand the ways in which fandom and the ensuing activities are enacted and experienced by people in a contemporary, technologically mediated community. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................1 1.1 THE RESEARCH QUESTION ....................................................................................1 1.2 STEPHENIE MEYER’S TWILIGHT .............................................................................4 1.3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ..............................................................9 1.4 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ................................................................................21 1.5 SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................29 CHAPTER 2: CONTEXTUALIZING THE PHENOMENON: MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS AND TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE TWILIGHT SERIES ..........................................................32 2.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................32 2.2 WOMEN AND POPULAR CULTURE ........................................................................34 2.3 TWILIGHT AND FEMINISM .....................................................................................37 2.4 BEYOND THE STEREOTYPES: ANALYZING BELLA ................................................39 2.5 THE INTERNET INFLUENCE ..................................................................................50 2.6 THE BELLA PUZZLE: TO BE FEMINIST OR NOT TO BE .........................................57 2.7 SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................65 CHAPTER 3: UNDERSTANDING THE FASCINATION: FINDING TWILIGHT AND PARTICIPATION IN THE FAN COMMUNITY ...........................................................................................67 vi 3.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................67 3.2 GENDER THEORIES, THE INTERNET, AND TWILIGHT .............................................70 3.3 WOMEN AND THE CRAFTING OF AN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK ..........................72 3.4 TWILIGHT FAN GROUPS ........................................................................................80 3.5 FINDING TWILIGHT ...............................................................................................82 3.6 BELLA: THE GIRL AND THE MOTHER...................................................................88 3.7 CONCEPTUALIZING MOTHERHOOD AND IDENTITY ..............................................90 3.8 ISOLATION AND CONNECTION: THE BOND OF TWILIGHT ......................................94 3.9 FOR THE SELF OR A BRIDGE TO OTHERS? ..........................................................107 3.10 SUMMARY .......................................................................................................113 CHAPTER 4: GIVING BACK: MOBILIZING CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES THROUGH THE TWILIGHT FANDOM ..................................................................................................................116 4.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................116 4.2 THE BEGINNING OF ESME’S HEART ...................................................................121 4.3 THE TWILIGHT PHENOMENON AND PHILANTHROPY ...........................................123 4.4 MEDIA ATTENTION AND ESME’S HEART’S CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES ................127 4.5 FORMING A FAN CHARITY: DONATING BLOOD INSTEAD OF DRINKING IT .........133 4.6 FAN ACTIVISM: THEORIES OF GIVING BACK AND NON-TWILIGHT GROUPS .......144 4.7 PLEASURABLE CONSUMPTION AND CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES ...........................147 4.8 SUMMARY .........................................................................................................161 CHAPTER 5: MORAL CARETAKERS: THE RELIGIOUS AND GENDERED THEMES WITHIN THE TWILIGHT COMMUNITY’S CHARITABLE ACTIONS ....................................................164 5.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................164 5.2 MORALITY AND MORSELS: THE RELIGIOUS THEMES IN TWILIGHT ....................165 vii 5.3 THE MOTHERHOOD ASPECT: WOMEN AS “NATURAL” CARETAKERS ................176 5.4 WHY TWILIGHT?: MOTHERHOOD AS A CHARITABLE MOTIVATOR .....................181 5.5 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND FAN ACTIVISM .........................................................189
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