WORKS-IN-PROGRESS: AN ANALYSIS OF CANADIAN MOMMYBLOGS by Heather Lyn Fleming B.Sc., University of Victoria, 1991 B.Ed. with Distinction, University of Victoria, 1996 LL.B., University of British Columbia, 2005 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the School of Communication © Heather Lyn Fleming 2008 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2008 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial- No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l’édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-58632-7 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-58632-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L’auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l’Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L’auteur conserve la propriété du droit d’auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author’s permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n’y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. APPROVAL Name: Heather Lyn Fleming Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: Works-In-Progress: An Analysis of Canadian Mommyblogs. Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Gary McCarron Associate Professor ___________________________________________ Dr. Zoë Druick Senior Supervisor Associate Professor, School of Communication ___________________________________________ Dr. Catherine A. Murray Supervisor Professor, School of Communication ___________________________________________ Dr. Kathy Mezei Professor Department of Humanities Date Defended/Approved: Sept. 24, 2008 ii ABSTRACT In this thesis, I explore why mommyblogs are controversial, who the mommybloggers are and what they are doing, what effect commercialization has on mommyblogs, and whether mommyblogs are dialogic spaces. According to Bakhtin, dialogic narratives are those which allow for heteroglossia, or a diversity of voices. I argue that the interlinked story of a blog community—of which the mommyblogosphere is one example—is an innovative genre of writing. I contend that mommyblogs are dialogic in several ways, some that are unique to the mommyblogosphere, and others that can be extrapolated to any blog community. In particular, since most blog readers are also bloggers themselves, they experience blogs in multiple ways: as writers, as readers, and as community members. I conclude that literary theory can contribute to the understanding of blogging as a cultural form and practice. Keywords: autobiography; blog; dialogism; feminism; intertextuality; memoir; mommyblog; motherhood Subject Terms: blogs; blogs – Canada; Canadian diaries; internet users Canada; mothers – Canada; women authors – 21st century iii DEDICATION To my mom. iv QUOTATION The living utterance, having taken meaning and shape at a particular historical moment in a socially specific environment, cannot fail to brush up against thousands of living dialogic threads, woven by socio-ideological consciousness around the given object of an utterance, it cannot fail to become an active participant in social dialogue. After all, the utterance arises out of this dialogue as a continuation of it and as a rejoinder to it. –Mikhail M. Bakhtin (1994, p. 76) v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to everyone at the School of Communication who has been a part of this endeavor. In particular, I am indebted to my thesis supervisors, Zoë Druick and Catherine Murray, for their enthusiastic support of my work, generosity in sharing their knowledge of the field, and insightful advice and direction; Neena Shahani and Denise Vanderwolf, for their guidance through the program; and Rick Gruneau, whose assistance getting my foot in the door was invaluable. I am grateful for the financial assistance the School of Communication and Simon Fraser University have provided through teaching assistantships and a graduate fellowship. I must also acknowledge Stephanie Lenz, who knew the answer when I asked ‚What’s a blog?‛ way back in 2001 and thus planted the seed for this thesis, as well as all the bloggers who have entertained, inspired, and informed me over the past several years, but in particular those who have chosen to share their life stories with the world, and without whom this thesis would not exist. Finally, heartfelt thanks to my friends and family for putting up with me as I pursued yet another degree, and above all to James Gordon who has never failed to be anything less than wholeheartedly supportive of all my ventures, academic and otherwise. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval ..............................................................................................................ii Abstract ............................................................................................................... iii Dedication ......................................................................................................... iv Quotation ............................................................................................................ v Acknowledgements.......................................................................................... vi Table of Contents ..............................................................................................vii 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 A Brief History of the Blog ..................................................................... 1 1.2 Mommyblogging ................................................................................... 6 1.2.1 Shrines to Parental Self-Absorption ................................................. 6 1.2.2 Mommybloggers on ―Mommybloggers‖ ...................................... 8 1.2.3 A Radical Act .................................................................................... 12 1.2.4 Good Writing and Monetization ................................................... 14 1.2.5 A Multiplicity of Viewpoints ............................................................ 18 1.3 Rationale for this Study ....................................................................... 21 2: Methodology ................................................................................................ 24 2.1 Delineating the Sample ...................................................................... 24 2.2 Method .................................................................................................. 26 3: Literature Review .......................................................................................... 29 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 29 3.1.1 Dialogism and Intertextuality ......................................................... 29 3.1.2 Databases and Narratives ............................................................. 33 3.2 Writer: Diaries and Scrapbooks ......................................................... 38 3.2.1 Who? ................................................................................................... 39 3.2.2 Where? ............................................................................................... 41 3.2.3 What? ................................................................................................. 43 3.3 Reader: Soap Operas and Docusoaps .......................................... 47 3.4 Community: Talk Shows and Girl Groups ........................................ 52 3.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 57 4: Analysis of the Blogs .................................................................................... 60 4.1 2004 ......................................................................................................... 61 vii 4.1.1 June|Ali: ―So…I‘ve done it. I‘ve jumped on the blog bandwagon…‖ ...............................................................................