Identity, rhetoric and behavior: The contradictory communities of Wizard Rock

Since 2000, a new musical genre has emerged revolving around the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling. This genre, called Wizard Rock, is comprised of more than 700 bands and thousands of listeners. These individuals make up the Wizard Rock community, a musical subculture founded on the ideals of unity, charity, and equality. However, like many musical communities, Wizard Rock participants struggle to behave according to their rhetoric. In this thesis, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted at Wizard Rock events around the United States, videography, audio analysis, field interviews, and other ethnographic data, I will argue that there is a noticable disparity between Wizard Rock community rhetoric and its behaviors, particularly focusing upon various constructions of Identity, Social Activism, and Gender and Sexuality.