Who am I?

You may know me as @elmyra or Milena Popova. I am currently a doctoral researcher at the Digital Cultures Research Centre in Bristol. My research is at the intersection of politics, cultural and fandom studies, gender and sexuality studies, and the digital world. My project explores the political potential of fandom and fanfiction as cultural activism on issues of sexuality and consent.

Why PornResearcher?

Well, it got you here, didn’t it? A lot of the material I will be looking at is sexually explicit non-commercial fiction. Different people call it different things (often based on whether they like it or not). I prefer encouraging a more nuanced view of different kinds of pornography than using different words for the stuff we like and the stuff we don’t.

What this blog is:

• A way for me to keep track of my reading and other research during my PhD.
• An early and probably clumsy attempt at research outreach.
• A place for dialogue: I was a fan long before I was an academic. I feel a deep sense of accountability to the fandom community and welcome thoughts, questions and call-outs.

What this blog might be:

• A place to conduct research: It’s early days and I am still working on my exact methodology, which needs to be both robust and ethical. But there is a chance that at some point conversations, writings and other materials on this blog may be used as part of my research. If that turns out to be the case, I will ensure this is clearly highlighted, and all participants can clearly opt into any research. Under no circumstances will consent be assumed.

What this blog is not:

• My thesis or any other form of truly rigorous academic argument.
• Free of fail. I’ll get things wrong. Hopefully, eventually, I’ll get them right.
• My final word on any given issue, text or question: I am only just beginning to develop a sense of the extent of my ignorance. In many cases, this blog will represent my first reaction to texts, data and key issues. I reserve the right to change my mind in response to further reading, data, call-outs from the community, or simple reflection.

Licensing:

PornResearcher by Milena Popova is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.