Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Film, Media & Theatre Dissertations School of Film, Media & Theatre 1-7-2022 Post-Millennial Queer Sensibility: Collaborative Authorship as Disidentification in Queer Intertextual Commodities Tanya D. Zuk Georgia State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/fmt_dissertations Recommended Citation Zuk, Tanya D., "Post-Millennial Queer Sensibility: Collaborative Authorship as Disidentification in Queer Intertextual Commodities." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2022. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/fmt_dissertations/17 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Film, Media & Theatre at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Film, Media & Theatre Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. POST-MILLENNIAL QUEER SENSIBILITY: COLLABORATIVE AUTHORSHIP AS DISIDENTIFICATION IN QUEER INTERTEXTUAL COMMODITIES by TANYA D. ZUK Under the Direction of Ethan Tussey, PhD ABSTRACT This dissertation is examining LGBTQ+ audiences and creatives collaborating in the creation of new media texts like web shows, podcasts, and video games. The study focuses on three main objects or media texts: Carmilla (web series), Welcome to Night Vale (podcast), and Undertale (video game). These texts are transmedia objects or intertextual commodities. I argue that by using queer gestures of collaborative authorship that reaches out to the audience for canonical contribution create an emerging queer production culture that disidentifies with capitalism even as it negotiates capitalistic structures. The post-millennial queer sensibility is a constellation of aesthetics, self-representation, alternative financing, and interactivity that prioritizes community, trust, and authenticity using new technologies for co-creation. Within my study, there are four key tactics or queer gestures being explored: remediation, radical ambiguity and multi-forms as queer aesthetics, audience self-representation, alternative financing like micropatronage & licensed fan-made merchandise, and interactivity as performance. The goal of this project is to better understand the changing conceptions of authorship/ownership, canon/fanon (official text/fan created extensions), and community/capitalism in queer subcultures as an indicator of the potential change in more mainstream cultural attitudes. The project takes into consideration a variety of intersecting identities including gender, race, class, and of course sexual orientation in its analysis. By examining the legal discourse around collaborative authorship, the real-life production practices, and audience-creator interactions and attitudes, this study provides insight into how media creatives work with audiences to co-create self-representative media, the motivations, and rewards for creative, audiences, and owners. This study aims to contribute towards a fuller understanding of queer production cultures and audience reception of these media texts, of which there is relatively little academic information. Specifically, the study mines for insights into the changing attitudes towards authorship, ownership, and collaboration within queer indie media projects, especially as these objects are relying on the self-representation of both audiences and creatives in the formation of the text. INDEX WORDS: Queer gesture, Transmedia, LGBTQ+, Cocreation, New media, Audience reception POST-MILLENNIAL QUEER SENSIBILITY: COLLABORATIVE AUTHORSHIP AS DISIDENTIFICATION IN QUEER INTERTEXTUAL COMMODITIES by TANYA D. ZUK A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of the Arts Georgia State University 2021 Copyright by Tanya D. Zuk 2021 POST-MILLENNIAL QUEER SENSIBILITY: COLLABORATIVE AUTHORSHIP AS DISIDENTIFICATION IN QUEER INTERTEXTUAL COMMODITIES by TANYA D. ZUK Committee Chair: Ethan Tussey Committee: Greg Smith Diana Anselmo Aymar Jean Christian Electronic Version Approved: Office of Academic Assistance College of the Arts Georgia State University December 2021 iv DEDICATION I dedicate this project to my many families. First and foremost, to my family of two with my wife Thia—the love of my life and supportive partner who held my hand through these tumultuous years. To our furry children here and gone whose purring comforted in stressful times. Thia this is such a small token in exchange for all the love and support you have provided me over the years, but you can finally introduce us as Dr. and Mrs. Zuk. I dedicate this to my family of birth, the crazy complicated mess that we are. To my mother, Catherine Costello who was always on the other side of the phone line. To my father Rolf Zuk, whose teasing and laughter spurned me on. To my stepfather, Raymond Costello, who I desperately wished was around to be able to say, “My daughter, the doctor.” To Sonia, my other mother, a quiet supportive voice. To Monica, Griffin, Nadia, and all of my many other siblings, nieces, and nephews—you crazy lot of love. May you all know that you are a part of my success. To my chosen family—my friends and community of support, queer and otherwise. Your laughter, light, and sometimes zany antics reminded me that there is a balance between life and work. I want to thank (in no particular order): Andy & Merrill, Ashley, Kos, Krystal, John & Chaka, Daniel, Mariel & Jared, and all the many Katies, Kathleens, and Katherines in my life. You provided a lifeline when I felt like sinking. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere thanks to my advisor Ethan Tussey for his detailed feedback, encouragement, and support when I was in the theoretical weeds. I also want to thank the committee as a whole: Greg Smith, Diana Anselmo, and A.J. Christian who have all put time and effort into my success. Their support and input have been invaluable. Of course, there’s the incredible office team including Karin Smoot and Regina Anderson who make sure the wheels keep turning in the office, thank you for all your hard work! I would like to thank Nedda Ahmed, our discipline librarian, who always came through with my various (and oft odd) source requests. Finally, I would like to thank Dean Lisa Armistead and her office for their support through the Provost Dissertation Fellowship. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ V LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... X LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ XI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................... XV 1 PROJECT ORIGIN STORY, AN INTRODUCTION .......................................... 1 1.1 Foundational Thoughts .................................................................................... 2 1.2 Being/Doing Queer ............................................................................................ 5 1.2.1 Queerness as Identity or Subjectivity ............................................................ 5 1.2.2 Queerness as Function or Process ................................................................ 7 1.2.3 Post-Millennial Queer.................................................................................... 8 1.3 Collaborative Authorship ................................................................................. 9 1.3.1 Legal ............................................................................................................. 10 1.3.2 Cultural......................................................................................................... 11 1.3.3 Theoretical .................................................................................................... 12 1.4 Queer Production Culture ............................................................................. 14 1.5 Theoretical Bearings ....................................................................................... 16 1.6 A Perfect Mix of Methods .............................................................................. 18 1.6.1 Preliminary Findings ................................................................................... 21 1.7 A Quick Guide (Chapter Summaries)........................................................... 23 vii 2 QUEER GESTURES OF COCREATION ............................................................. 1 2.1 Post-Millennial Queer (Sensibility) ................................................................. 1 2.2 Tactics of Survival: Collaborative Authorship as Disidentification............. 4 2.3 Conceptualizing the Queer Intertextual Commodity .................................... 8 2.4 The Four Queer Gestures of the QIC ........................................................... 11 2.4.1 First Gesture: Remediation as Queer Aesthetic.......................................... 13 2.4.2 Second Gesture: Interaction, Performativity, and Queer Kinship ............. 17 2.4.3 Third Gesture: Unremarked Self-Representation ...................................... 23 2.4.4 Fourth Gesture: Alternative Financing ...................................................... 29 2.5 Conclusion: Collapsing Boundaries, Queer Utopia and Queer Failure....