“A Space Where Queer Is Normalized”: The Online World and Fanfictions as Heterotopias for WLW

Llewellyn, Anna

doi:10.1080/00918369.2021.1940012

“A Space Where Queer Is Normalized”: The Online World and Fanfictions as Heterotopias for WLW

Llewellyn, Anna

Authors

Dr Anna Llewellyn a.e.llewellyn@durham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor

Abstract

In the current society, the online and fictional worlds are important spaces for both the identity construction and wellbeing of LGBTQ people. Connecting these spaces are fandoms (and fanfictions), which can operate as places of resistance for marginalized groups. Through the collection of survey data completed by 79 women loving women (WLW), this study therefore asks, in what ways does the online world, particularly in relation to fandoms, open up spaces for WLW. Employing a Foucauldian analysis, findings suggest communities online are crucial for affirmative support, and fanfictions are places where queerness is normalized. As such, through the displacement of time and space, online spaces (and particularly fanfictions) operate as heterotopias that significantly disrupt normative societal discourses. Accordingly, empathetic communities and the normal queer are notably absent from many WLW’s physical worlds. However, caution is urged as these results are less clear for women of color.

Citation

Llewellyn, A. (2022). “A Space Where Queer Is Normalized”: The Online World and Fanfictions as Heterotopias for WLW. Journal of Homosexuality, 69(13), 2348-2369. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2021.1940012

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Dec 15, 2020
Online Publication Date	Jun 29, 2021
Publication Date	2022
Deposit Date	Jul 2, 2021
Publicly Available Date	Dec 16, 2022
Journal	Journal of Homosexuality
Print ISSN	0091-8369
Electronic ISSN	1540-3602
Publisher	Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	69
Issue	13
Pages	2348-2369
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2021.1940012

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