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Paper short abstract

A debate on masculinity, and the nature thereof have run rampant online. In the forums an ongoing process of gamification of stories is taking place. By using the genre of legend, the paper aims to discuss the construction of common sense within the manosphere.

Paper long abstract

In latter years the debate on masculinity, and the nature thereof have, from a want of better description, run rampant in online forums, on YouTube and public discourse, fueling a process of othering and identity construction in what is collectively understood as the manosphere. In the manosphere there is an ongoing process of gamification of language and utterances that can be likened to the process of memorate construction, through fabulate to legend. This process constructs common sense consensus(es) on the nature of masculinities.

In my paper I will demonstrate how the folkloristic use of genre as method (c.f. Erikssen & Kverndokk 2022) can be utilized to decipher the play with words and genre construction within online manosphere groups. By subjecting the stories told to a discussion on the construction of legend, fabulates, memorates and erinnerungssage (Taghlierini 1995, Degh & Vázsonyi 1974), one may not only better understand the gamification of storytelling in-group, but also illuminate processes of othering gender(s) and identity construction of masculinities (ranging from the loser to the gentleman) in an ongoing negotiation on the nature of masculinities.

By using stories collected from online forums as examples I will show how storytelling is used to construct common sense regarding the nature(s) of masculinity, demonstrating in the process how gamification of storytelling can be interpreted in the light of contemporary legend scholarship.