International Communication and Media

This paper proposes a ‘Youth Theory’ of analysis which constructs youth as a site of transition, rather than an ‘other’ figure, and examines the relationship that young people have with the dominant social discourse (adulthood). The theory is similar to Marxist theory, except instead of focusing on arbitrary class barriers, it focuses on a culturally determined age-based power hierarchy. Fiction for young readers is unusual in the publishing discourse because the target audience of the genre does not (usually) produce the texts they consume. Instead, Children’s and Young Adult fiction (YA) is produced by adult authors. This exclusion of the young readers’ voice can marginalise and (eventually) colonise young adults as readers because it privileges the voice of the ‘powerholders’, or adults. Young readers differ from other marginalised groups, such as women, people of colour, and LGBTQ+ people, because there is no youth-specific theory of textual analysis in the way that there is Feminism, Post-colonialism, and Queer theory. This paper addresses this gap in critical practice; it models the use of Youth Theory by analysing contemporary fiction for young readers through an age-based interpretive framework. It examines how aetonormativity is portrayed in fiction, and how young characters are shown reacting to it.

Fanfiction is the realm of young people – usually young women. It offers a space for them to explore sexuality, relationship dynamics, notions of power, and agency in a safe space with recognisable characters and situations. Fanfiction tropes have occasionally found their way into published works, and some contemporary published authors began their careers as young fanfiction writers, but the fanfiction writing community has often drawn derision in popular culture. This paper examines the representation of fanfiction tropes and authors in the works of Rainbow Rowell, and argues that Rowell’s books Fangirl and Carry On model a more positive and inclusive approach to representing fanfiction. While Fangirl celebrates the work of fanfiction authors by exploring the positive effects of fanfiction writing practice, the supportive community which surrounds these authors, and the socio-cultural benefits to exploring sexuality and relationship dynamics through vicarious experience, Carry On offers a practical demonstration and model of fanfiction in action. Rowell’s works offer a metatextual encounter with fanfiction writing and community which celebrates the practice rather than condemning it.

Generally, textual analysis minimises the intention of the creator in the conclusions that the researcher draws in order to avoid falling into the 'intentional fallacy' (Wimsatt & Beardsley 1946), which is when a reader expects the author or creator of a text to have had a specific plan for the text's interpretation and succeeded in achieving that plan. The 'death' of the author was said to give more interpretive freedom to the viewer. In fanart, however, the intention behind the work is important because it arguably establishes a point of reference for the viewer to understand the image. The intention of this paper is to propose and model an interpretive methodology for fanart that reflects whether a text falls into one of three categories: homage, collaboration, or intervention. By modelling this method, it is the researcher's hope that other scholars may use and develop it, as well as start a conversation in the scholarly community about how certain fanart works are created, inspired, and received depending on their relationship to the originary text. This paper argues that in order to properly analyse fanart, a recognition of the author's intention and where it stands in the community is necessary.

One of the key, driving themes of Hamilton: An American Musical is the desire for a strong legacy. Given the fact that the Hamilton musical is centred around an American founding-father – a man whose legacy is still felt in the political landscape of contemporary America and in history lessons across the country – the concept of legacy born from ambition is given particular weight. The purpose of this paper is to explore how different characters approach legacy, and how their approaches appear to be structured and informed by their gender. Through a text-oriented approach that focuses on musical and lyrical evidence, the author of this paper concludes that ambition and legacy are gendered within Hamilton, with the female legacies being portrayed as ultimately less toxic and more philanthropic than their male counterparts, although they are informed by the historical limitations on women at the time.

In contemporary mainstream media there is a tendency to represent LGBTQ+ characters stereotypically, or even kill them off. This trope is called 'bury your gays' and it has done much to discredit and delegitimise representation. Even though the percentage of queer representation in mainstream media has improved, a viewer could be forgiven for thinking that, overall, popular culture does not think highly of the LGBTQ+ community for continuing to perpetuate these narrative arcs. The McElroy family's popular actual-play podcast The Adventure Zone (TAZ) initially portrayed queer characters in the 'bury your gays' trope by killing off a canon lesbian couple in their first season. As four self-proclaimed 'straight, cis, white dudes', the family initially performed their characters by reflecting what they had seen in mainstream fiction. After engaging with their audience and learning why this was upsetting, they changed the story to reverse the trope; unburying their gays by bringing the characters back to life. Since then, they have consistently introduced more queer characters and, in their latest season, have also introduced nonbinary characters. By tracking the introduction and development of queer representation in TAZ podcast episodes-both the game episodes and the meta-episodes bookending each season-the McElroys' education and integration of this new information into narratives is demonstrable. The representation of queer characters in TAZ shows that podcasts are not just a platform for LGBTQ+ creators to educate their audience; they can also act as a participatory storytelling medium in which creators can be educated in gender and sexuality by their audience.