"May the Fourth Be With You": Star Wars Day, the Mass Media, and a Vernacular Hybrid Fan-Holiday

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Published: Jan 1, 2018

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Jared Lee Schmidt
University of Wisconsin

Abstract

For many Star Wars fans, May 4th is a holiday. Ideas and concepts derived from the fandom about this unofficial, fan-created holiday, are not only adapted from the institution and transmitted via memes to create a vernacular hybrid, but they can also be re-appropriated by the institution. Through examining a series of YouTube videos posted by a Dallas based television news station in celebration of Star Wars Day, this study argues that the influence of fandom and memes as vernacular expressions can be utilized to exert influence on both fans and institutions through a set of complicated relations.

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How to Cite
Schmidt, J. L. (2018). "May the Fourth Be With You": Star Wars Day, the Mass Media, and a Vernacular Hybrid Fan-Holiday. New Directions in Folklore, 15(1/2), 77–108. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/ndif/article/view/24290
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Vol. 15 No. 1/2 (2017): The Folk Awakens: Star Wars and Folkloristics
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