Digital Participatory Culture: Transnationality, Fandom & Diversity. Religion and Gender in German-written Fan Fiction and Fan Forums

Abstract

The focus of this paper is to discuss the mediatization of religious elements and gender in popular US television series and German online fan culture (specifically fan fiction written in German) as part of an overall transnational participatory culture on the Internet. For the purposes of this paper, examples from the television series Supernatural and its German online fan culture have been selected to analyze the similarities and disconnections in the discussion of religion and gender in a transnational media discourse. At this point, the Foucaultian of power within the discourse representing religion in narrative texts and discussions is prominent. This idea reveals significant insights into a transcultural reciprocal development regarding the audiences’ interpretation of mediatized religious elements and gender in online participatory culture.