Open AccessSurrendering authorial agency and practicing transindividualism in Tumblr's role-play communities
Author(s) -
Shan Howard
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
transformative works and cultures
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1941-2258
DOI - 10.3983/twc.2017.01020
Subject(s) - surrender , agency (philosophy) , sociology , aesthetics , work (physics) , media studies , art , political science , law , social science , mechanical engineering , engineering
The writer who engages in acts of online role-play or make-believe is often thought to promote him or herself as an individual agent. However, when members of Tumblr's role-play communities engage in play, they create scenes together that prompt surrender of authorial agency. In doing so, they engage in transindividual work, which allows them to work across, among, and between other entities until the boundaries of the self become porous rather than fixed.