Originally, I didn’t want to write this post. I didn’t want the herculean task of trying to define “geek.” Even now, as I type these words, an alarm is going off in the back of my head, “Warning! Danger! Abort!” It’s likely, with the volatility that runs through geek culture, I’m going to offend someone, or multiple someones. It’s just as likely that theses offended someones will let me know that they are offended, why they are offended, and tell me, at length and in exacting detail, why my definition is wrong. However, I’ve already gotten a bit of backlash for not defining what I mean when I say, “geek.” since the mission of this site is to foster communication about literature between different communities, it’s disingenuous to leave one of the core terms in the name of the site, “The Geek’s Guide to Literary Theory” undefined.
The challenge of defining “geek” is that even geek culture can’t seem to decide what it is. Gatekeepers galore want to decide who is and, more importantly, who isn’t a “geek.” This occasionally blows up, and rather than reinvent the wheel about who is and isn’t a geek, I’ll direct you to this awesome post by John Scalzi on the subject. Spoiler alert: Anyone who wants to identify as a geek gets to identify as a geek.
That being said, what do we mean when we say, “geek?”
That’s no simple task.
In preparation to write this post, I went to google and did three different searches:
- “What is a geek?”
- “Who gets to be a geek?”
- “Are you a geek?”
The lists of websites resulting from these searches is a mixture of inspiring, heartbreaking, bittersweet, fascinating, and turned into a massive timesink that really got me no closer to a concrete definition. So, in an effort to help come up with a definition, I posted to social media, asking folks for their definitions, and went for a walk to ponder this while playing Pokemon Go for a bit, to consider the conundrum of creating a definition of “geek” that embodies the spirit of geek culture while being inclusive rather than exclusive.
First off, this site will use the terms “geek” and “nerd” interchangeably. Yes, some folks out there seem to feel the pedantic need to over-define them into distinctly different things. Once upon a time, I embraced that need, but no longer. To argue the difference between geeks and nerds is tiresome and counterproductive to the mission of this website. If that level of nit-pickery is your idea of fun, then by all means, have your fun. This site isn’t a place we’re going to do that.
For the purposes of this site, we’re going to consider a geek as any individual with deep interest and curiosity for some subject or topic that is traditionally considered counter-culture or outside of the main-stream. This includes, but is in no way limited to, science fiction, fantasy, comic book, video games, role-playing games, board games, theater, costuming, computers, education, anime, etc… the list goes on and on. Many geeks often refer to themselves as the type of geekery they especially identify with. At various times in my life, I have been a gamer geek, a ren faire geek, a scifi geek, a dance geek, computer geek, a Red Sox geek (yes, you can be a sports geek), a WWE geek, and a literary theory geek.
I believe the most important word in the paragraph above is “curiosity.” Of all other descriptors or qualities that apply to geeks, I would say they are curious more above and beyond anything else. They become so curious about a subject that they want to know anything and everything they can about it. This is a double-edged sword, as this quality also leads to many of the biggest squabbles that have come out of geek culture as opinions and curiosities clash.
Speaking of geek culture, for the purposes of this site, we’re going to consider “geek culture” as the gathering and/or communication of two or more geeks to discuss and celebrate the geeky things they love and cherish.
These aren’t perfect definitions, but I believe these will do for the purposes of this website. I’m sure as time goes on, I’ll refine these definitions, tweak them here or there, as that’s kind of what geeks do. We’re always redefining and reexamining the things we love and the ways in which we talk about and celebrate them.
Now that we have those definitions, we can start posting essays and articles.
MTG