‘We’re Just Fantasizing Aloud Here’: Fantasy and Online Communities in Dennis Cooper’s The Sluts (2005)

Jaime Garcia Iglesias

doi:10.1080/0013838X.2022.2051919

‘We’re Just Fantasizing Aloud Here’: Fantasy and Online Communities in Dennis Cooper’s The Sluts (2005)

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Abstract / Description of output

How do fantasies build and destroy online communities? What are fantasies like online? This paper explores how Dennis Cooper's work describes the role of sexual fantasies in online interactions and how The Sluts marks a turning point in Cooper’s conceptualisation of fantasy. In particular, I argue that The Sluts narrates how an online community attempts to manage the tension between fantasy and reality in an anonymous setting. This unresolvable tension eventually forces the community’s collapse. Furthermore, this paper compares The Sluts with other work by Cooper (Frisk, Guide, and The Dennis Cooper Blog) so as to situate The Sluts in Cooper’s broader oeuvre.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	609-623
Number of pages	15
Journal	English Studies
Volume	103
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/0013838X.2022.2051919
Publication status	Published - 17 Mar 2022

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

community
Fantasy
online
truth
US literature

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10.1080/0013838X.2022.2051919

Article_The_Sluts_v7_English Studies_author details_tracked changes_ChicagoAccepted author manuscript, 136 KBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution Non-Commercial (CC-BY-NC)

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title = "{\textquoteleft}We{\textquoteright}re Just Fantasizing Aloud Here{\textquoteright}: Fantasy and Online Communities in Dennis Cooper{\textquoteright}s The Sluts (2005)",

abstract = "How do fantasies build and destroy online communities? What are fantasies like online? This paper explores how Dennis Cooper's work describes the role of sexual fantasies in online interactions and how The Sluts marks a turning point in Cooper{\textquoteright}s conceptualisation of fantasy. In particular, I argue that The Sluts narrates how an online community attempts to manage the tension between fantasy and reality in an anonymous setting. This unresolvable tension eventually forces the community{\textquoteright}s collapse. Furthermore, this paper compares The Sluts with other work by Cooper (Frisk, Guide, and The Dennis Cooper Blog) so as to situate The Sluts in Cooper{\textquoteright}s broader oeuvre.",

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‘We’re Just Fantasizing Aloud Here’: Fantasy and Online Communities in Dennis Cooper’s The Sluts (2005)

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