Transformative Works and Cultures, special issue: Transnational boys' love fan studies, No. 12 (March 15, 2013) Editorial Kazumi Nagaike & Katsuhiko Suganuma, Transnational boys' love fan studies Theory Toshio Miyake, Doing Occidentalism in contemporary Japan: Nation anthropomorphism and sexualized parody in "Axis Powers Hetalia" Björn-Ole Kamm, Rotten use patterns: What entertainment theories can do for the study of boys' love Praxis Paul M. Malone, Transplanted boys' love conventions and anti-"shota" polemics in a German manga: Fahr Sindram's "Losing Neverland" Lucy Hannah Glasspool, Simulation and database society in Japanese role-playing game fandoms: Reading boys' love "dōjinshi" online Symposium Erika Junhui Yi, Reflection on Chinese boys' love fans: An insider's view Keiko Nishimura, Where program and fantasy meet: Female fans conversing with character bots in Japan Midori Suzuki, The possibilities of research on "fujoshi" in Japan Akiko Hori, On the response (or lack thereof) of Japanese fans to criticism that "yaoi" is antigay discrimination Review Samantha Anne Close, "Mechademia Vol. 6: User Enhanced," edited by Frenchy Lunning Emerald King, "Writing the love of boys: Origins of 'bishōnen' culture in modernist Japanese literature," by Jeffrey Angles Transformative Works and Cultures (TWC), ISSN 1941-2258, is an online-only Gold Open Access publication of the nonprofit Organization for Transformative Works. TWC is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. Download date: March 15, 2017. For citation, please refer to the most recent version of articles at TWC. Transformative Works and Cultures, Vol 12 (2013) Editorial Transnational boys' love fan studies Kazumi Nagaike and Katsuhiko Suganuma Oita University, Oita, Japan [0.1] Keywords—BL; Dōjinshi; Gender; Homosexuality; Transnationality Nagaike, Kazumi, and Katsuhiko Suganuma. 2013. "Transnational Boys' Love Fan Studies [editorial]." In "Transnational Boys' Love Fan Studies," edited by Kazumi Nagaike and Katsuhiko Suganuma, special issue, Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 12. doi:10.3983/twc.2013.0504. [1] We either become fans of something, or others invent us as fans. Fans can be infinitely diverse because no definitive or monolithic signifier is inscribed in the term fan. Some fans are conscious of their fan identities; others are less so. The idea that a certain (imagined) role of fan raises collective fan identities is valid for some fans, but not for others. Also, some fans are consciously (and subconsciously) willing to comply with the specific images of fans created and distributed by the media, while others refuse to do so. Identity formation is always multifaceted and in motion, and so are the ways of being and becoming a boys' love (BL) fan (note 1). [2] In its early stages of development, BL in Japan represented a genre produced through interactions among fans. This remains true today. For this reason, the cultures of BL have always been intertwined with issues of fans and fandom. It may be appropriate, therefore, to first provide a brief overview of Japanese BL fan studies before broadening the discussion to incorporate transnational BL, which is the task of this special issue. Thus far, analysis of Japanese BL in terms of fans and fandom has ranged from ethnographic research on BL fans and communities focusing primarily on the processes of community building and identity formation to the rather essentialist attempts of psychoanalytic inquiry into the question, "Why do women crave BL?" Some of these psychoanalytic approaches attempt to uncover the psychological processes through which female BL fans sublimate negative notions concerning femaleness and femininity by imaginatively disguising themselves as boys/men in the BL world. For example, scholars such as Azusa Nakajima (1998), Midori Matsui (1993), and Tamae Tanigawa (1993) indicate that women's psychological alienation from their socially assigned gender roles leads them to adopt an imaginative masculine subjectivity. Another area of inquiry in Japanese BL fan studies is media discourse analysis, which reveals the ways in which the media have often perceived female BL fans as those who are dubious of and deviate from heteronormative conventions. Mari Nishihara (2010), for example, demonstrates this historical tendency in media discourse concerning BL phenomena especially during the 1990s, when popular Japanese media, in accordance with the prevailing patriarchal ethos, generally portrayed female BL fans as socially/sexually immature, escapist, and essentially antisocial. [3] Any discussion of recent developments in Japanese BL fan studies must consider several controversial issues regarding the term fujoshi. The concept of fujoshi, which literally means "rotten girls" and connotes the (presumably self­mocking) perversion of women who fantasize about male homoeroticism/homosexuality, has recently received a great deal of popular attention in Japan. In media discourse, the term has emerged as a female equivalent of the male otaku (obsessive fan or nerd). Midori Suzuki's Symposium essay included in this volume, "The Possibilities of Research on Fujoshi in Japan," provides the historiographical details of the term and its controversial public recognition. As Jeffry Hester (forthcoming) argues, while some analyses of fujoshi (Galbraith 2011) recognize the concept as potentially subversive in that it inherently involves nonconventional perceptions of female gender, popular media (mainly directed at male audiences) generally describe fujoshi fans within a patriarchal framework, purposefully containing their activities under the purview of heteronormativity. [4] Moreover, perceptions of Japanese BL fans also reflect the importance of dōjinshi (amateur writings and drawings) in the subcultural context. The critical discussion concerning BL dōjinshi so far may be broadly characterized as a growing recognition of the autonomy of female self­expression and also as an attempt to comprehend the nature of female­oriented BL fan communities. Junko Kaneda's 2007 analysis of BL fan communities as kaishaku kyōdotai (collective interpretation) reveals one specific aspect of such groups: that they have a tendency to create jargon and behaviors that can only be shared among BL fans, and this in turn serves to enhance their solidarity. But BL fans' interactions can no longer be limited to human­to­human communication, as Keiko Nishimura's Symposium essay "Where Program and Fantasy Meet: Female Fans Conversing with Character Bots in Japan" explains. Nishimura examines BL fans' interactions with character bots (kyrakutā botto), computer­generated characters programmed to post characters' lines from original comics, manga, and other artworks on Twitter. Nishimura says, "Conversing with a character bot constitutes affective play with a nonhuman program, but at the same time it can trigger the formation of a fan community or strengthen bonds in an existing fan community" (¶7.1). [5] At the same time, the sexual orientation of fans can sometimes disturb seemingly well­balanced, monolithically harmonious BL communities. As Akiko Hori's Symposium essay in this issue, "On the Response (Or Lack Thereof) of Japanese Fans to Criticism that Yaoi Is Antigay Discrimination," clarifies, the yaoi ronsō, or yaoi dispute, was first provoked around 1992 by a self­identified gay activist who criticized BL narratives as derogatory and discriminatory in relation to gay men. Other gay critics subsequently claimed that on a subconscious level, female BL fans are homophobic; these critics thus accused BL of "plundering" gay men's images. Hori argues for the importance of discussing the ramifications of fantasies and realities presented in BL, and by doing so reminds us of the problematics of the internalized heteronormative psyche. [6] In December 2012, one of us (Nagaike) attended a yaoi con called Blush, which was held in Manila (http://blush­con.org/). During the convention, she had a chance to observe the BL fan community in Manila and to interview both male and female BL fans. Close observation of BL fans (and fan communities) in the Philippines, with reference to the Japanese BL fan studies mentioned above, demonstrates the compelling necessity for BL critics to expand their own horizons. In the interviews that took place at the Blush convention, Nagaike encountered several testimonies that not only resemble but also differ from the Japanese situation. One female fan, who was wearing a mask to conceal her identity, said that her parents would kill her if they found out what she was doing. Some men echoed her confession. For example, a young man selling his sexually explicit BL dōjinshi confided that if his father discovered his BL dōjinshi activity on the Internet, he would disown him unless he ceased the activity. More than a few female fans remarked that whenever they disclosed their BL involvement to men, they were always asked if they were lesbians. Furthermore, most of our interview subjects, regardless of their gender, raised issues concerning Catholic accountability for their "sins." Not only religion but also class affect the ways BL artworks are consumed and created in the Filipino context. Most female and male convention participants have a good command of English and easy access to online BL networks, and identify themselves as educational elites. Our observations of Filipino BL fans and fandom were by no means carried out to confirm the originality or distinctive characteristics