Cultivating community and belonging: Queer rhetorical practices in virtual Dungeons & Dragons games

Cultivating community and belonging: Queer rhetorical practices in virtual Dungeons & Dragons games

Cultivating community and belonging: Queer rhetorical practices in virtual Dungeons & Dragons games

Mariah Kemp

Abstract

"This dissertation investigated how queer folks communicate and perform queerness to build community and to belong. Also under examination was the impact that virtual role-play had on these queer rhetorical and communication practices. I asked three research questions within this dissertation: How is queerness communicated and performed in virtual Dungeons & Dragons games? How do queer folks use or alter the space of virtual Dungeons & Dragons games? How do queer folks co-construct community and belonging in virtual Dungeons & Dragons games? To address these questions, I conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with participants who identified as queer and/or LGBTQIA+ and had experience playing virtual Dungeons & Dragons games. I used thematic analysis and theoretical concepts from queer theory and Gloria Anzaldúa to analyze the interview data. Through this analysis, I identified several themes for each research question. This study found that participants communicate queerness by subverting the normative, viewing queerness as the default, and showing agency. Participants perform queerness through embodied metaphors and by trialing aspects of identity. Participants in this study use virtual space to gain access to other queer folks, to provide safety, and to seize opportunities for queer community engagement and representation. To co-construct community and belonging, queer folks use queer worldbuilding, maintain a patient and invitational attitude, and support systemic change within the tabletop role-playing game system. The Anzaldúan concepts of Borderlands, hacienda caras, nepantla, nepantleras, and la facultad were useful in the interpretation of the findings."

Reference

Kemp, M. (2023). Cultivating community and belonging: Queer rhetorical practices in virtual Dungeons & Dragons games (Doctoral dissertation, Iowa State University). ProQuest. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2858805755?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true

Keywords

Queer Communication, Virtual Role-Play, Dungeons & Dragons