Narrative extraction, #BlackPantherSoLit, and signifyin': "Black Panther" fandom and transformative social practices

Abstract

This article examines the history, creative labor, and social practices around the #BlackPantherSoLIT hashtag on Twitter. Two years before the Black Panther movie event, the hashtag created a fandom of Blackness itself. Once the film was released, Black audiences experienced freedom from fan labor practices typically used when consuming content without significant Black representation.

Keywords

• Black American culture
• Fan labor
• Fans of color
• Race
• Transformative works
• Twitter