Harry Potter Fandom as an Online Speech Community

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2006
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
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Thesis (B.A.)
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en_US
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Full copyright to this work is retained by the student author. It may only be used for non-commercial, research, and educational purposes. All other uses are restricted.
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Abstract
This paper locates the analysis of ONLINE SPEECH COMMUNITIES in the wider context of speech communities and COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (CMC), supplementing the rather scarce analysis of online speech communities. It uses the experiences gained by Cassell and Tversky (2005) and Wick (1997), and examines how their methods and findings are applicable to the larger and more open speech communities to be found online, specifically that of the Harry Potter fan community. Through the close examination of one Harry Potier fan forum, the Leaky Lounge, this study explores the ways in which members reinforce the community linguistically. Several markers were investigated, covering pronoun usage, different modes of member interaction, CMC proficiency, the use of community specific lexical markers, community norms, and the members' shared fantasy theme. The quantitative analysis established that most of the community reinforcing behavior increased as members gained in membership seniority, though some markers experienced a temporary decrease as novice members seek to prove themselves as HP-sleuths. The analysis also found that age and gender sometimes playa signiticant role in impacting online linguistic behavior. The results of the qualitative analysis likewise showed that members reinforce their community through conventional linguistic expressions such as greetings, but also through several methods particular to CMC, such as quotes, emoticons, and descriptions of their own actions. The latter were found to also play an important role for the fantasy theme being acted out (virtually) by members in order to increase their range of expression and for humor.
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