Muslim girlhood, Skam fandom and DIY citizenship

Briony Hannell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
36 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

While fandom is a dominant girlhood trope, few accounts examine faith in the context of girls' fandom. Addressing this gap, using a feminist poststructural analysis, I draw on interviews and participant observation to locate fan communities as a space in which Muslim girls can enact citizenship. Combining youth cultural studies, girlhood studies, and fan studies, I explore how Muslim fangirls of the Norwegian teen web-drama Skam (2015-2017) draw on their desire for recognition and their creativity as cultural producers to engage in participatory storytelling that challenges popular representations of Muslim girls. This process enables the production of communities rooted in shared interests, experiences, and identities. I suggest that fandom should be recognized for its capacity to generate new meanings of citizenship for minority youth.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)46-62
Number of pages17
JournalGirlhood Studies
Volume14
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2021

Keywords

  • Muslim youth
  • citizenship
  • fan culture
  • cultural production
  • religion
  • girls' studies
  • Fan culture
  • Minority youth
  • Cultural production
  • Islam
  • Fangirl
  • Civic engagement
  • Feminist poststructuralism

Cite this