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Creating a Space for “Lowbrow” Information Behavior: From Dime Novels to Online Communities

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Sustainable Digital Communities (iConference 2020)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12051))

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Abstract

Both information behavior and social informatics research concern themselves with the formation and evolution of digital communities and online environments. However, literature to date focuses heavily on formal, professionalized, and normative resources and contexts at the expense of other materials and environments, including those centered around “entertaining” content such as fiction. In this paper, we present a historical narrative centered on paperback fiction and its creation, then relate that narrative to other fiction formats and current online fiction collectives, such as fanfiction archives. We adopt the perspective that fiction—often denigrated as “lowbrow” material, especially within an information science scholarly canon—can and should be considered an information resource in order to broaden social informatics and information behavior work so that they move away from normative conceptions of information and its interactors. We conclude with promising theoretical and practical directions to continue this work in the future.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to Reynolds, the educated classes (in his words, a “small minority”) in the United States in the 1890s were reading highbrow fiction in such as Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray – these pieces appeared in highbrow serials such as Harper’s Magazine and Lippincott’s Magazine. Other “serious” magazines included The Century, The Nation, The Arena, and The Atlantic.

  2. 2.

    Of the detective fiction analyzed by Bedore from the 19th century, 96% of the detectives were men, as well as 85% of the criminals. A very small number of non-white characters appeared, with only 4 in the role of the detective (out of 165), 18 as criminals (out of 447), 10 as victims (out of 255). An additional 5 had roles as informants and 8 were in secondary roles.

  3. 3.

    The original genres/sub-genres associated with dime novels and early mass-market paperbacks included Westerns, detective fiction/crime drama, romance novels, and stories for boys.

  4. 4.

    For example, advances in lithographic printing and wire racks.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA

    Diana Floegel & Ariel Hammond

  2. University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Heather Moulaison-Sandy

  3. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Sarah G. Wenzel

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  1. Diana Floegel
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  2. Heather Moulaison-Sandy
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  3. Ariel Hammond
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  4. Sarah G. Wenzel
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Correspondence to Diana Floegel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

    Anneli Sundqvist

  2. OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

    Gerd Berget

  3. University of Boras, Boras, Sweden

    Jan Nolin

  4. OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

    Kjell Ivar Skjerdingstad

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Floegel, D., Moulaison-Sandy, H., Hammond, A., Wenzel, S.G. (2020). Creating a Space for “Lowbrow” Information Behavior: From Dime Novels to Online Communities. In: Sundqvist, A., Berget, G., Nolin, J., Skjerdingstad, K. (eds) Sustainable Digital Communities. iConference 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12051. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43687-2_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43687-2_21

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