The time period “lore” has, neatly, lots of lore. Now crucial on-line slang, the phrase may also be traced again to Outdated English, the place it referred basically to studying, as within the act of training or being taught.
Through the years, lore got here to be related to extra casual wisdom, handed on via phrase of mouth. The time period “folklore,” the “lore of the people”, was once coined through the British creator William J. Thoms in 1846. Because of this, lore in large part slipped out of commonplace utilization. By means of 2024, then again, it had made the shortlist for the Oxford phrase of the yr (the identify was once taken through “brainrot”).
So, how did “lore” come to carry such fresh relevance? And what does it imply lately? The solution may also be discovered, a minimum of partially, in fandom, the place “lore” is used to confer with the frame of data that exists round an individual, fictional universe or personality.
Fandom has lengthy facilitated deep dives into media through which fanatics analyse, speak about and monitor their favorite storylines and personality arcs. This has been in particular true of the science fiction and myth genres, because of their advanced and expansive narrative universes.
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In 1969, science fiction fan and creator Bjo Trimble self-published the primary version of Celebrity Trek Concordance. It was once an unofficial reference e-book for the tv collection that includes timelines, plot summaries, personality biographies and extra – data that would possibly now be described as Celebrity Trek lore.
Since then, fanatics of Celebrity Trek and numerous different tv presentations have persisted to create zines, write fan fiction, organise conventions and broaden huge and ongoing archives of fan-works. Thru such practices, fanatics broaden what media knowledgeable Henry Jenkins has described as collective intelligence, as each and every fan contributes small portions of data to an entire – or, to the lore.
Fandom has, in fact, come a ways for the reason that early days of Celebrity Trek. Fan actions have now moved on-line, the place their succeed in and visibility has considerably larger. Tv has modified too, transferring in opposition to the narrative complexity and innovation made conceivable, partially, through the energetic engagements of fandoms.
The place fandom was once as soon as a distinct segment (and incessantly derided) process, in recent times fan tradition has long past mainstream. From direct conversation between fanatics and manufacturers to the inventive probabilities of transmedia storytelling (the place productions flow into respectable content material throughout platforms in ways in which echo fan-ish expansions of narrative worlds) media is more and more inviting audiences to take part within the investigating, cataloguing and circulating of lore.
Pop lore – from Okay-pop to Gaylor Swift
A formidable instance of lore inspiring transmedia storytelling may also be present in Okay-pop.
Widely known South Korean bands have interaction with their fanatics no longer simplest via their song, but additionally with “concepts” (issues that span styling, song and different media) and ever-expanding storytelling universes.
Take, for instance, mega-boyband BTS’s meta narrative of the Bangtan Universe. It’s a fictional change universe which spans song movies, webtoons (virtual comics), brief motion pictures, cellular video games, books and extra. This type of cross-platform storytelling encourages BTS fanatics to piece in combination the “lore” of the respective universe.
Storytelling may be central to the recognition of singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, described through Youngster Fashion as “the queen of easter eggs”. Those hidden messages and inter-textual references may also be discovered within the famous person’s lyrics, movies, model, interviews or even manicures, and convey an expansive archive of Swift lore.
A subsection of Swift lore is referred to as Gaylor – the place fanatics collate “evidence” that they consider presentations that Swift is queer. It’s, partially, an instance of the expansive probabilities of fandom for queer audiences. However it additionally speaks to the moral tensions of fandom and parasocial relationships, as fan-created lore can turn into [invasive expectations](https://www.them.us/tale/taylor-swift-end-of-gaylorism](https://www.them.us/tale/taylor-swift-end-of-gaylorism) of celebrities.
Shedding lore on TikTok
As virtual media has grown to grow to be a part of our day by day lives, “lore” has grown too. Lately it is going past fictional universes and celebrities to additionally come with on a regular basis folks and their on-line tales.
YouTube first invited customers to “broadcast yourself” in 2005, and alternatives to take action have simplest expanded since then, significantly with the upward thrust of TikTok.
On TikTok, some customers inform tales about their lives and reports, or their “lore”. In those brief movies, lore is “dropped” (published) about notable occasions, defining reports, relationships (equivalent to ex-lore) and circle of relatives tales (equivalent to dad lore).
Those playful retellings remake actual lifestyles via narrative conventions of heroism, romance and comedian misadventure, whilst different movies be offering ironic statement on lore-dropping itself.
There’s without delay authenticity, efficiency and play right here. Tales are, partially, ephemeral, as lore comes and is going within the fast paced float of virtual content material. Circulating by the use of hashtags, then again, tales are attached, replied to and remade, facilitating virtual intimacies.
The circulate of lore is, without delay, consumer generated and algorithmically curated. Within the context of what researchers have described because the datalogical flip (the place large information and adaptive algorithms grow to be more and more central to shaping and figuring out society) and the upward thrust of affective capitalism (through which emotions, needs and reports are capitalised on for financial acquire), non-public lore additionally turns into precious information to be commodified.
Lore then, is an outdated phrase with a distinctly fresh iteration. It’s consultant of the ever-expanding convergences of virtual media, identification and intimacy.
