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Participatory Listmaking: Encyclopedic Lists, Evaluative Lists, Playlists Jon van der Veen A Thesis In the Department of Communication Studies Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada October 2012 © Jon van der Veen, 2012 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Jon van der Veen Entitled: Participatory Listmaking: Encyclopedic Lists, Evaluative Lists, Playlists and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Communication) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Chair Dr. S. Shaw External Examiner Dr. D. Barney External to Program Dr. D. Wershler Examiner Dr. M. Allor Examiner Dr. L. Shade Thesis Supervisor Dr. W. Buxton Approved by Chair of Department or Graduate Program Director Dr. M. Allor, Graduate Program Director October 5, 2012 Dr. N. Esmail Dr. B. Lewis, Dean Faculty of Arts and Science ii Abstract Participatory Listmaking: Encyclopedic Lists, Evaluative Lists, Playlists Jon van der Veen, Ph.D. Concordia University, 2012 Lists tend to be treated in media studies as “pre-text”, “con-text”, or “para- text”, but rarely in a focused and tailored manner as “text”. One reason for this, I suGGest, is rooted in the list form’s ambiGuous constitution as both the multiple individuated items in the list as well as the singular ground onto which they are drawn together, accounting for a paradoxical quality that confers upon the list form both its heady participatory capacities and more limitinG “granular” semiotic capacities. DefininG a list most Generally as “a cateGory, communicated”, this dissertation identifies and explores three such kinds of lists and their sites of listmaKinG, analyzing each through the co-ordinates of participation, selection, order, and rhetoric. Encyclopedic lists exhibit a style of listmaKinG whose roots I trace to the great 18th century encyclopedic projects, emphasize a mode of amateur contribution aimed at completinG the list in an expanding and proliferate world, and exhibit a paradoxical rhetoric of totalization and fraGmentation that, I argue, resolves through an ethic of “completism.” Evaluative lists such as Top 10 or Best-of lists exhibit a style of listmaKinG I trace to the history of women’s and lifestyle periodicals, and exhibit a rhetorical stance that combines the fraGmentation inherent in masses of individual “subjective” experiences with the more authoritative aims of the Genres to act as “arbiters of taste”, resolving in an ethic of “tacit commensuration.” Playlists across various music schedulinG, personal compilation, and diGital contexts exhibit a iii mode of listmaKinG focused on the artistic criteria of the playlist-maKer, where the form is pulled rhetorically towards its pretentions of reflectinG an artistic worK in its own right and reflecting a fan-perspective that emphasizes the received identities and social existences of its items, promptinG an ethic of “contingency” in an attempt to secure a fleeting authorial coherence. I conclude that we turn to participatory lists when we are committed to exploiting the participatory capacities inherent in encyclopedic completion, evaluative commensuration, and aesthetic contingency, but in an addendum to the theory of “participatory cultures” (Jenkins 2009), we may also recoGnize the limitations inherent in texts that describe the world by the accretion of “facts”, that never quite sustain a sinGular arGumentative arc, and that paint pictures usinG the coarse brushes of others’ commercial-aesthetic works. iv Acknowledgements This dissertation is in many ways a product of the entirety of my Graduate studies, and there are many people who deserve an acKnowledGement of Gratitude for its completion. My advisor Dr. William Buxton provided prompt and wise feedbacK, the members of my Concordia departmental committee Dr. Leslie ReGan Shade and Dr. Martin Allor were thouGhtful and encouraGinG from the early stages of this work, and my external defence committee members Dr. Darin Barney and Dr. Darren Wershler deserve thanks for their attentive ideas and critiques. My graduate work would not have been possible without the support of Dr. Joy Parr at the University of Western Ontario, who instigated the Megaprojects New Media SSHRC grant that supported my parallel new media worK throuGhout my Ph.D. period, and whose example of excellence as a scholar who fearlessly addresses difficult areas of study has been invaluable to my development as a scholar. I would also like to thank others at Western whose time and discussions were beneficial in my earlier years as a Grad student, especially Dr. Jacquelyn Burkell, Dr. Carole Farber, and my former Master’s thesis advisor Dr. Robert Babe. I would liKe to thanK my fellow Graduate students and other friends who heard more about lists than they siGned up for, includinG Mohammed Ben Moussa, Fabiana Etcovitch, Andrea Zeffiro, Nicole Porter, Dan Pascal, Maya Landell, and Peter West, the last of whom became a local support after my move to Ottawa, by dispensing great feedback and beer. Finally I would liKe to thanK my family: my father Jan, who was always interested to hear about this research, my mother v Sandra, whose cheerful support was a welcome resource, especially after long pre- holiday periods of work, and my brothers FranK and BlaKe. To dip into this dissertation’s ideas, I miGht finally say that this list of gratitude is not an encyclopedic list, and there are many fellow students, co-workers, friends, and family who deserve similar acKnowledGements. It is a cliché, but true, to say that this dissertation would not have been possible without all of your support. vi Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................. 1 What is a List? .............................................................................................................................................................. 3 Manuscript Lists ...................................................................................................................................................... 15 Lists of Print and Literature ............................................................................................................................... 19 Museums, Publics, and Democracy .................................................................................................................. 26 Sites of Listmaking .................................................................................................................................................. 32 Chapter 2 Encyclopedic Lists ................................................................... 40 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 40 Methodology .............................................................................................................................................................. 42 Reference Works as Collections ........................................................................................................................ 45 Lists in Encyclopedic Works ............................................................................................................................... 51 The Wikipedia Project ........................................................................................................................................... 54 Wikipedia Scholarship .......................................................................................................................................... 56 Lists in Wikipedia .................................................................................................................................................... 58 2.1. Participation: Adding the Fact .............................................................................................................. 64 Comparing Articles and Lists in Wikipedia .................................................................................................. 69 Lists vs Tagging (i.e. Wikipedia “Categories”) ............................................................................................ 73 2.2. Selection: Encyclopedic Authority and the Notability of Lists ............................................... 78 2.3. Order: Neutrality and the Alphabetical Series .............................................................................. 91 Order on Wikipedia ................................................................................................................................................ 96 Order and Navigation ........................................................................................................................................... 99 2.4. Rhetoric: Encyclopedic Totalization throuGh Completism .................................................... 102 Conclusion: Encyclopedic Lists on the Web ............................................................................................... 105 Chapter 3 Evaluative Lists .................................................................... 110 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................

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