“In my fiction I never say anything which is not absolutely true”: Reassessing Constance Fenimore Woolson’s Literary Realism

Despite her immense popularity in the nineteenth century, Constance Fenimore Woolson\u27s reputation dwindled substantially in the decades which followed. While her works have been rediscovered over the past thirty years, they are often categorized as regionalist writing or, in the case of her penultimate novel, Jupiter Lights, melodrama. What many fail to consider, however, is that Woolson very much considered herself a realist author, and may have been remembered as such were it not for the influence of William Dean Howells and his peers, whose very narrow parameters for literary realism excluded Woolson, among others. Unfortunately, those parameters are still with us today, and exclude many authors whose realities do not conform to Howells’s original scope. In this thesis, I examine the biographical and historical context for Woolson’s lesser-known works, arguing that they demonstrate a type of empathetic realism which must not be ignored by current scholars of American literature

“In my fiction I never say anything which is not absolutely true”: Reassessing Constance Fenimore Woolson’s Literary Realism

Despite her immense popularity in the nineteenth century, Constance Fenimore Woolson\u27s reputation dwindled substantially in the decades which followed. While her works have been rediscovered over the past thirty years, they are often categorized as regionalist writing or, in the case of her penultimate novel, Jupiter Lights, melodrama. What many fail to consider, however, is that Woolson very much considered herself a realist author, and may have been remembered as such were it not for the influence of William Dean Howells and his peers, whose very narrow parameters for literary realism excluded Woolson, among others. Unfortunately, those parameters are still with us today, and exclude many authors whose realities do not conform to Howells’s original scope. In this thesis, I examine the biographical and historical context for Woolson’s lesser-known works, arguing that they demonstrate a type of empathetic realism which must not be ignored by current scholars of American literature

Facing the Dark Spaces: Fan Radicalization from RaceFail '09 to the Christchurch Shooting

This dissertation traces the relationship between the increasing ubiquity of social media and media fandom, examining online fandom practices between 2009 and 2023, paying particular attention to increased diversity within speculative media, the inappropriate gamification of certain fan practices, and the link between fandom and online extremism. Fan studies scholarship traditionally uplifts marginalized voices, particularly those fans who create and consume transformative works such as fanfiction, fanart, and fanvids, and the communities they create. However, many of the darker spaces of the Internet, such as parts of 4chan, 8chan, YouTube, and Reddit, also operate as fan spaces and must be studied as such. This dissertation examines the historically stigmatized fans that fan studies tends not to address, linking their omission within the field (and the larger cultural acceptance of media fandom) to the rise of these darker, radicalized online spaces. This dissertation studies online ephemera such as message board, blog, and social media posts in conjunction with literary analysis to establish the connection between media fan practices and published speculative media. Chapter 1 introduces and defines restorative fandom through an analysis of Ernest Cline&rsquo;s 2011 novel, Ready Player One. Chapter 2 analyzes the importance of RaceFail&nbsp;&#39;09, a months-long online imbroglio within science fiction and media fan spaces, to N. K. Jemisin&rsquo;s Broken Earth trilogy, both structurally and within fan discourse. Chapter 3 studies an online fan community dedicated to the webcomic Lore Olympus in order to introduce the concept of&nbsp;trauma-informed fandom, in which participants gamify the language and practices of mental health and wellness culture. Chapter 4 studies restorative fandom taken to its darkest, most extreme conclusion, analyzing the /pol/ boards of 4chan and 8chan and mass shooter manifestos as examples of both participatory culture and transformative works.</p

The New Satanic Panic

Abstract A moral panic animated by conspiracy theories alleging ritual sex abuse swept through the United States in the 1980s. During that “Satanic Panic,” as it came to be known, people expressed fears of social change regarding gender and sexuality. Beginning in 2022, conservative politicians, pundits, and pastors in the United States levied similar accusations of child grooming, sex trafficking, and satanic sex abuse at the LGBTQ + community, teachers, liberals, and entertainment companies; these accusations were accompanied by repressive legislation and violence. Despite their political salience, little is known about the people who believe these accusations. Using a 2022 U.S. national survey (N = 2,001), we find that up to one-third of Americans believe accusations of satanic cult abuse, government sex trafficking, and an “agenda” to “groom” children into gay or trans lifestyles. These beliefs are correlated with a range of political attitudes (e.g., positive views of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and white nationalists) and policy preferences (e.g., overturning Roe v. Wade), as well as with normative (e.g., a desire to run for political office) and nonnormative (e.g., the acceptance of political violence) political intentions and behaviors. Regression analysis further reveals that these conspiracy theory beliefs are positively associated with dark psychological traits, antiestablishment orientations, and repressive views toward sex and gender. Our findings suggest that these accusations can spark dehumanization and deadly violence by mobilizing into politics people who possess strong feelings of political efficacy, but also antisocial traits, nonnormative tendencies, and a desire to undermine established political institutions