Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Theory and Criticism

Supervisor

Dr. Wendy Pearson

Abstract

This thesis is an examination of non-binary transgender communities on the internet and the new, non-binary modes of subjectivity that can be read within these spaces. After my first introductory chapter, which situates my work in the context of previous contributions to transgender theory, I approach non-binary online communities from different perspectives. My second chapter reads certain codes of communication within non-binary friendly online spaces (such as Tumblr) as a form of neo-Dadaism, as well as cyborgian manifestations. My third chapter contends with the interactions of non-binary online communities within a society structured by neo-liberal institutional capitalism. My fourth and final chapter looks more closely at transgender coherence and how non-binary individuals use the technologies of social media (such as selfies) to write more compatible personal narratives of embodied gender expression. My goal is to legitimise and emphasise the accessibility and transformative power of these non-binary communities within online spaces.

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