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All Journal Journal Communication Spectrum: Capturing New Perspectives in Communication
Wang, Aiqing
University of Liverpool
Arts Humanities Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences

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FEMININISATION IN CHINESE DANMEI LITERATURE Wang, Aiqing
Journal Communication Spectrum: Capturing New Perspectives in Communication Vol 11, No 2 (2021): August 2021 - January 2022
Publisher : Department of Communication Science, Bakrie University

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.36782/jcs.v11i2.2160

Abstract

耽美 danmei, the Chinese version of Boys Love (BL), literally means ‘addicted to beauty; indulgence in beauty’, and it denotes a literary genre featuring male-male romantic/homoerotic relationships produced for and consumed by 腐女 funü ‘rotten girls’. Although danmei literature and subculture emerged in China’s cyberspace in the 1990s, quasi-danmei depictions can be attested from works composed during the imperial period when male-male homosexuality involving feminine elements was embraced by elite culture. As a controversial, transgressive subcategory of Internet literature, danmei is attaining visibility and critical attention, yet more academic research is needed to comprehensively analyse this relatively new literary genre in a holistic manner. In this paper, I hermeneutically scrutinise a range of danmei fiction and investigate the phenomenon of feminisation prevalent in danmei writings. Currently, a prodigious amount of danmei narratives are characterised by feminisation of uke (bottom) and even seme (top) protagonists, embodied by characters’ epicene appearance, effeminate manners, transvestism and male pregnancy. Feminisation in danmei, however, is discrepant from fangirls’ act of nisu (泥塑/逆苏) that depicts male idols as adolescent girls and youthful women. The rationale for feminisation in danmei is partially attributed to female writers’ (un)intentional deviation from partner preferences of homosexual males, impinged on by the prevailing aesthetic trend of ‘soft masculinity’ and readers’ taste. More significantly, feminising male characters enables danmei creators to manipulate traditional gender roles and intensify the female gaze. Potentially, feminisation is the result of the increasing attention and readership of danmei literature in contemporary China. To cite this article (7th APA style):Wang, A. (2021).  Feminisation in Chinese Danmei Literature. Journal Communication Spectrum: Capturing New Perspectives in Communication 11(2), 127-141.  http://dx.doi.org/10.36782/jcs.v11i2.2022 
Xiazhui: The Real Person Slash Novel That Triggers The Blockage of AO3 in China Wang, Aiqing
Journal Communication Spectrum: Capturing New Perspectives in Communication Vol 13, No 1 (2023): February - July 2023
Publisher : Department of Communication Science, Bakrie University

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.36782/jcs.v13i1.2159

Abstract

Owing to its dual correlation with homosexuality and eroticism, danmei (Boys Love) in China is subject to state censorship, so in a hit online serial The Untamed adapted from a popular danmei novel, the male-male relationship between protagonists has been expurgated. Obsessed with the romance in the original narrative yet dissatisfied with the officially sanctioned adaptation, fangirls create fanfiction, including real person slash (RPS) based on the leading actor Xiao Zhan and his co-star from the The Untamed. Xiao’s fans reported a piece of RPS titled Xiazhui and Archaic of Our Own (AO3) that hosted it, causing AO3 to be blocked in China on 29th February 2020. Since Xiazhui features real celebrities, it concerns moral debates. Furthermore, Xiazhui pertains to Xiao’s fanbase whose acts are interconnected with toxic fandom and the so-called ‘heresy-style star worship’. More significantly, the contentious aspect of Xiazhui also lies in its homoerotic depictions that are regarded as indecent in a contemporary Chinese context. To cite this article (7th APA style): Wang, A. (2023). Xiazhui: The real person slash novel that triggers the blockage of AO3 in China. Journal Communication Spectrum: Capturing New Perspectives in Communication 13(1), 13-29. https://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.36782/jcs.v13i1.2159
Danmei Meets Fandom: A ‘Popularity Bubble’ Wang, Aiqing
Journal Communication Spectrum: Capturing New Perspectives in Communication Vol 14, No 1 (2024): February-July 2024
Publisher : Department of Communication Science, Bakrie University

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.36782/jcs.v14i1.2417

Abstract

In this article I illustrate the evolvement of the marginalised danmei (the Chinese equivalent of Japanese Boys Love) into a fandom-like subculture in contemporary China. I investigate danmei writers and their fanbases by analysing works and rankings on the leading female-oriented literature website Jinjiang and discussions on social media platforms represented by Weibo. Danmei writers are frequently correlated with (accused) overhyping and smear campaigns, and their fans contribute financially and in a form of maneuvring public discourse on social media, which is attributed to fangirls’ psychological and social pressure, as well as the prevailing capitalism and consumerism. Therefore, I argue that such a fandom-like phenomenon is only a ‘popularity bubble’, which by no means indicates an embracement of danmei as a literary genre and subculture or homosexuality as minority sexual orientation in China. Worse still, since some danmei fans demonstrate toxic fan practices such as cyber manhunt and online harassment and abuse, this ‘popularity bubble’ impinges upon danmei in a detrimental manner by imperilling its reputation and hindering its (fan) creation. To cite this article (7th APA style): Wang, A. (2024). Danmei meets fandom: A ‘popularity bubble’. Journal Communication Spectrum: Capturing New Perspectives in Communication 14(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.36782/jcs.v14i1.2417 
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