Unpacking, Dismantling, and Resisting Toxicity in Fandom Spaces Through Speculative Civic Literacies

• In Event: Building Identities and Dismantling Discourses With/in Media

Abstract

This case study considers how BIPOC youth develop speculative civic literacies (Mirra & Garcia, 2020), identifying and unpacking systems of oppression and toxicity through engagement with critical discourse in fandoms. We explore the negative practices that BIPOC youth described resisting based on their experiences in fandom affinity spaces as well as methods they used to speculatively reimagining public fandom life. Through collaborative identification of biased practices, critical discussion around new ways of interaction, and embodied restorying interactions at a local fandom convention, these youth used speculative civic literacies to co-author meaningful media practices and apply them in identify-affirming amd transformative ways.

Authors

• Karis Michelle Jones, Empire State University - SUNY
  Presenting Author

• Rebecca Barr, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
  Presenting Author