2016 Participants
Charlotte Clodfelter
The Pagan community has an (imagined) ancient history, often demonised, and associated with a need for secrecy. However, pagans, in all their diverse forms, are starting to reveal themselves to the world via virtual online platforms. This project explores how and why the Pagan community use the internet. This data collected is qualitative and comprises of an in-depth (ethnographic) interview with a moderator of an online Pagan forum and three critical discourse analyses of websites in North East England. This analysis suggests an internet presence serves the purpose of making connections with other individuals who identify as Pagan, and acts as a bridge for access to other services within the Pagan community. Moreover, varying degrees of privacy and transparency enable groups and individuals to negotiate their position and authenticity within the Pagan community, whilst the position of the Pagan community in wider society is mediated through the Media.
Funding source: Newcastle University
Supervisor: Dr Emma Clavering