Some People Aren’t People on the Inside

Shane, Margaret

doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-5206-4.ch016

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 15 publications

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“…7 Despite manifold differences in specific identity claims, all Otherkin understand themselves to be deeply, unchangeably, other-than-human. Current scholarly work tends to view Otherkinity in one of three ways: as a religious belief system based in fictional works (Kirby 2008(Kirby , 2013O'Callaghan 2015;Davidsen 2013Davidsen , 2016Cusack 2016); as a neurological abnormality or pathological disorder (Gerbasi et al 2008;Probyn-Rapsey 2011;Grivell, Clegg, and Roxburgh 2014); or as a community-based formation of selfknowledge infused with mythological and pop-cultural influences (Laycock 2012;Robertson 2012Robertson , 2013Johnston 2013;Shane 2014). Having spent a great deal of time doing fieldwork with Otherkin, I have come to regard the phenomenon from more of an ontological position-that is, I understand their Otherkinity as deriving from an initial experience of other-than-humanness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policing the Fluff: The Social Construction of Scientistic Selves in Otherkin Facebook Groups

Proctor

2018

Engaging STS

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The Otherkin are a group of people who identify as other-than-human. Primarily gathering in online spaces, they discuss and debate the origins and parameters of this identification and try to make sense of their extraordinary experiences. This article traces how the Otherkin deploy scientific facts and theories during this process, arriving at Otherkin science, a carefully curated compilation of abstract physics, psychology, metaphysics, and ancient belief that renders other-than-human identification thinkable in a contemporary Western paradigm. Drawing on five years of ethnographic engagement with the Otherkin, this article examines this social knowledge construction through the processes of “questioning” and “grilling” on Otherkin Facebook groups. In continuously negotiating their own identities through scientific reasoning, they create what I am calling scientistic selves—frameworks of identification created by lay scientists whose adherence to specific scientific facts and theories is fundamental to their continued existence.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policing the Fluff: The Social Construction of Scientistic Selves in Otherkin Facebook Groups

Proctor

2018

Engaging STS

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Speaking of Elves, Dragons, and Werewolves

Baldwin,

Ripley,

Arsenault

2023

The Use and Abuse of Stories

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Much has been written on how individuals construct and maintain their identities through the stories they tell about themselves and the stories others tell about them. Often, but not always, there is enough convergence between these inner and outer stories not to cause significant conflict. However, it is also the case that certain identities are deemed more acceptable than others, and, while such acceptability may wax and wane for some identities, others remain very much marginalized and excluded. Such is the case of Other-than-human (OtH) identities—Otherkin, therians, vampires, and the like: How is it possible, and what does it mean, for an individual who is human in appearance and acting in the human world to self-identify as Otherkin—that is as an other-worldly, mythical, or fantastical creature such as an elf, dragon, or werewolf—or as therian (i.e., a this-worldly animal such as a dog, wolf, bear)? The visible disjunction between individuals’ experienced identities and the perceived reality of others raises hermeneutical issues. Following general reflections on narrative hermeneutics this chapter explores the process of “awakening”—the realization or coming to understand oneself as Otherkin or therian—and origin stories. The authors discuss OtH identities as “believed-in imaginings,” the limits of narrative acceptability, and how features of unnatural narratives might help in interpreting OtH identity narratives.

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Exploring Other-Than-Human Identity: A Narrative Approach to Otherkin, Therianthropes, and Vampires

Baldwin

Ripley

2020

QSR

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Drawing on in-depth, narrative interviews with 24 self-identified Otherkin, Therianthropes, and Vampires, we explore how members of these communities navigate Bamberg’s three “dilemmatic spaces” or tensions of continuity/change, similarity/difference, and person-to-world/world-to-person fit. With regard to the first, we identify four aetiological narratives (walk-ins, reincarnation, trapped soul, and evolutionary soul), and discuss stories of shifts and awakening. For the second, we discuss how participants manage the similarity/difference tension with regard to themselves and humans, and explore categorical and renunciatory othering within the communities. Finally, we explore the ways in which members of the communities experience a barren narrative environment, and ways they seek to construct storyworlds and narrative resources as frames for establishing their identities.

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Some People Aren’t People on the Inside

Cited by 3 publications

References 15 publications

Policing the Fluff: The Social Construction of Scientistic Selves in Otherkin Facebook Groups

Policing the Fluff: The Social Construction of Scientistic Selves in Otherkin Facebook Groups

Speaking of Elves, Dragons, and Werewolves

Exploring Other-Than-Human Identity: A Narrative Approach to Otherkin, Therianthropes, and Vampires

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