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Textual poaching definition12/24/2023 ![]() In some ways, the Shrek meme culture resembles the franchise itself its humor relies on cheap gags and references in order to get a laugh out of its audience. I think that, although fans enjoy producing these memes and videos, the main purpose is for the rest of the fandom to enjoy them. I also do not believe that the fans are textual poaching for their own benefit and to “enjoy it themselves”. This is because the term ‘despoiling’ suggests that the fandom are stealing from the Shrek franchise, however I think that the creators of Shrek are happy with the huge amount of fan interaction within the franchise, and would in fact encourage it. However I do not believe it supports his statement that fans are “despoiling the wealth to enjoy it themselves”. His idea that readers are like travelers can be supported by the Shrek fandom because, before they were part of the Shrek fandom, they were most likely part of a different fandom, and once they have lost interest in Shrek, they will move on to another fandom. He states that “readers are travelers they move across lands belonging to someone else, like nomads poaching their way across fields they did not write, despoiling the wealth to enjoy it themselves”. The Shrek franchise can be used to supports Michel de Certeau’s concept of Textual Poaching from his book ‘The Practice of Everyday Life’ (1984). ![]() It gives the audience the platform to no longer be passive, and instead be dedicated fans who respond to the franchise by creating fan content and then sharing it amongst the fandom. ![]() Without social media and the internet, this level of Textual Poaching would never be possible. Jenkins (1992) ideas about the emergence of modern digital technologies replacing passive fans with ‘active readers’ is clearly backed up by the Shrek franchise. As a result of the fandom spreading the content they create on social media and websites such as ‘ShrekChan’, they are also now creating and circulating new textual meanings for the Shrek franchise. By creating these memes and videos, they are no longer just passive consumers, they are adding new layers to the franchise and have now become ‘active readers’. The Shrek fandom clearly supports the concept of Textual Poaching as a whole, as well as Jenkins (1992) idea that fans are not simply passive consumers of popular texts, but “become active participants in the construction and circulation of textual meanings”. It seems that this is the way these internet phenomenons take place, a few people start making jokes about something, and then it builds momentum to the point where everyone on the internet is doing it. It’s also a funny word, and there’s just something funny about an ogre doing things”. There’s a few Shrek jokes, and then Shrek starts to be just the stand-in for anything that’s like generic entertainment, when you’re making an ironic joke or something. In an interview with online media magazine ‘The Atlantic’, ‘Buzzfeed’ writer Katie Notopoulos said “There’s sort of a momentum to it. The reason for this huge wave of interest in Shrek on the internet could be down to number of factors. The video is considered to be a pornographic slash fiction and went hugely viral, reaching over 100 million views. In 2012, Shrek’s online popularity went to what ‘The Daily Dot’ described as a “whole new demented level” with a fan made video called “Shrek Is Love, Shrek Is Life”. As well as this there are countless pages on Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter which regularly upload Shrek memes.Īccording to ‘New York’ magazine, Shrek was “one of the patron saints of the elaborate and complex culture of memes”. In 2012 ‘ShrekChan’ was launched, inspired by the meme website ‘4chan’, and is used by Shrek fans to upload the memes they create. In fact, there’s been a ‘Shrek Filmmaker’ movement of animators making videos, fueled by the Internet’s obsession towards the character. The fans mainly produce memes featuring Shrek as well as videos and even short films. They go by the name ‘Brogres’, a mix of ‘bros’ and ‘ogres’, or some people argue it’s to mock the ‘My Little Pony’ fandom ‘Bronies’. The Shrek Fandom started around 2009 and has been huge ever since. There is a plethora of fan produced Shrek content all across social media and there are even websites dedicated purely for it. Textual Poaching is very common within the Shrek Fandom.
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