Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Humanities and Cultural Studies

Major Professor

Daniel Belgrad, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Scott Ferguson, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Amy Rust, Ph.D.

Keywords

anti-trans, authorship, fandom, Harry Potter, identity

Abstract

This thesis investigates how traditional ideas of authorship are contradicted in the 21st century as authorial power is distributed through an actor network. In this case study, I apply Bruno Latour’s Actor Network Theory (ANT) to the authorship of the fantasy series Harry Potter, in which J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros, and the fandom are all among the co-creators. In doing so, I find that when power has been exercised by other actors in the network, this has in multiple cases been experienced by Rowling as a threat to her security as an author, a woman, and a mother. This is reflected in the language of her writing in another genre: biological essentialist discourse. As I analyze two of Rowling’s personal X essays (from 2020 and 2025), I use queer theory to articulate how Rowling has been anathematizing trans women to defend herself as a woman. I claim that it is not simply that fans fight with Rowling over her anti-trans stance, but that Rowling chooses this issue as an opportunity to fight the fans because, in her view, they have wrested control of the Harry Potter story from her, and in doing so, they threaten her sense of self. This research also adds to our understanding of how the internet shapes identities, and of what happens to authorship within a cultural world dominated by social media and related technology.

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