Legendary Days - a novel, and the Aspects of Geek Culture in Fiction - Doctor of Philosophy thesis

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Aria

This Creative and Critical Writing PhD thesis examines the dialogue between fiction and geek culture, tracing how the terms “geek”, “nerd”, and “otaku” have been defined and used over time. It then undertakes close readings of three novels positioned as representative of geek culture, focusing on their effects on theme, characterisation, format, and reading experience. The creative component, Legendary Days, is a geeky memory-saving novel where intertextual play and shifting time reframe authorship, form, and the future of fiction through flexibility, games, and contestation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages259

Reading Time10 h 53 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Warning

Tutorial

Choose Your Own Adventure

Playing the Thesis

Difficulty Level

Level Design

Lore

Final Boss

Chapter 1: Geeking Out on Etymology: Geeks, Nerds and Otaku

Graph Geek

A Quest for Definitions

Chapter 2: Footnotes on Everything: Super Nerds and Intertextuality

Super Nerds and Secret Geeks

On Footnotes and Beyond

Intertextuality as Hypertext and Hypertext as Intertextuality

Post-Apocalyptic

Chapter 3: Microserfs, Technology and the Posthuman Geek

README.TXT

One-Point-Oh

Dream Machines

Save and Close

Chapter 4: Train Man, the Otaku Chorus and the Limits of Geek Metafiction

Reconnaissance Mission

Bombing Mission

Legendary Days – a novel, and the Aspects of Geek Culture in Fiction Candidate: Bernardo Bueno Submitted for the degree: Doctor of Philosophy University of East Anglia School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing August 2013 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. 2 ABSTRACT This Creative and Critical Writing PhD thesis explores the dialogue between fiction and geek culture. It seeks to understand the definitions and uses of the terms ‘geek’,‘nerd’and ‘otaku’ over time. I look for points of commonality and how they have been used in texts since the seventeenth century. After this initial exploration, I move to a close reading of three novels that are representative of geek culture. These texts comment on geek culture though they do not belong to genres traditionally associated with it, such as fantasy or science fiction. Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao makes extensive use of footnotes, intertextuality and hypertextuality. Douglas Coupland ’s Microserfs explores the influence of technology, tries to define geeks and nerds, plays with form and language, and touches on the subject of posthumanity. Meanwhile, Nakano Hitori’s Train Man, which began life as a collective online message board thread, challenges common tenants of fiction, especially that of authorship and form. The novels, in the order in which they are discussed, move from the traditional to the innovative. They pose questions about the way in which geek culture interacts with fiction, how this influence plays out in terms of theme, characterisation, format, and the reading experience. Finally, these novels also interrogate ways geek culture might help us understand the future of fiction writing. Both thesis and novel were designed with the idea of ‘play’ in mind, with particular reference to games, flexibility and contestation. The creative element of this thesis, Legendary Days, is a geeky novel about saving memories. The protagonist, after loosing his father, writes down his own memories in a narrative that plays with geek culture and related themes. It follows the same character in three different times and contexts, while also allowing for several intertextual intromissions throughout the text. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................6 WARNING ........................................................................................................................................6 TUTORIAL .......................................................................................................................................6 CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE ...................................................................................................7 PLAYING THE THESIS ......................................................................................................................9 DIFFICULTY LEVEL .........................................................................................................................9 LEVEL DESIGN .............................................................................................................................. 10 LORE ............................................................................................................................................. 11 FINAL BOSS ................................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 1: GEEKING OUT ON ETYMOLOGY: GEEKS, NERDSAND OTAKU...........14 GRAPH GEEK ......................................................................

FAQs

What topics does the thesis study regarding geek culture and fiction?

It explores the dialogue between fiction and geek culture and investigates how “geek”, “nerd”, and “otaku” are defined and used over time in texts since the seventeenth century.

Which three novels are analyzed and what formal techniques are highlighted?

The thesis focuses on Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (footnotes and intertextuality/hypertextuality), Douglas Coupland’s Microserfs (technology, attempts to define geeks/nerds, form and language, and posthumanity), and Nakano Hitori’s Train Man (authorship and form, rooted in an online message board thread).

What is the creative component Legendary Days about?

Legendary Days is a geeky novel about saving memories, where the protagonist writes down his own memories after losing his father, using narrative play with geek culture across three time-based contexts and through intertextual intrusions.

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Aria