Fursonas : furries, community, and identity online
Name
1192966622-MIT.pdf
Size
2.2 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
da70f88b4f3c33783395bbef41fcc423
Author(s)
Silverman, Ben(Benjamin Luke Matanos)
Advisor(s)
Ian Condry.
Alternative Title
Furries, community, and identity online
Date Issued
2020
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The furry fandom is a loose-knit online subculture of fans devoted to anthropomorphic animal characters. Furries are not necessarily fans of specific media properties, but instead often create their own media, including the "fursona," an anthropomorphic animal character to represent oneself in the community. Conducting empirical research through interviews, participant observation, auto ethnography, and virtual ethnography, I have sought to understand this aspect of furry identity and sociality through a number of disciplinary lenses. In this thesis, I argue that furry queers fandom through several interrelated processes: severing fandom from textual objects; developing queer sex publics; paving new pathways to queer becoming; and displacing online identity through stylized, affective modes of embodiment. These fan practices, as articulated through the fursona, cohere into a queer worlding of virtual spaces.
Description
Thesis: S.M. in Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing, May, 2020
Cataloged from the official PDF of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 72-75).
Subjects
Comparative Media Studies.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Terms of Use
MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.
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