There's Porn of It, No Exceptions: A Cultural and Analytical Approach to ‘Rule 34’ as Metamodern Expression

Abstract

A ubiquitous, yet largely academically undocumented, contemporary practice of engagement with popular culture in the Anglophone world revolves around fan-made erotic adaptations of cultural phenomena. In the digital age, the visual forms of such erotic fan works are often referred to as "Rule 34"; a meme and popular adage that states simply that "there's porn of it, no exceptions." While Rule 34 is purposefully self-referential, parodic and transgressive, this does not necessarily preclude Rule 34 artworks from harbouring ideological sincerity. Data from Rule 34 image repositories suggests that many Rule 34 artworks are not produced or consumed solely for sexual stimulation, but also for other ideologically subversive motives. The research also contextualizes Rule 34 as part of a broader shift in structure of feeling forming a new modernism, known as metamodernism, arguing that Rule 34 artworks have attained a double sincerity in both layers of its irony.