ORBIT - Online Repository of Birkbeck Institutional Theses Enabling Open Access to Birkbecks Research Degree output Yaoi online : the queer and affective practices of a yaoi manga fan community http://bbktheses.da.ulcc.ac.uk/166/ Version: Full Version Citation: Turner, Simon (2016) Yaoi online : the queer and affective practices of a yaoi manga fan community. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London. c 2016 The Author(s) All material available through ORBIT is protected by intellectual property law, including copyright law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. Deposit guide Contact: email Yaoi Online: The queer and affective practices of a yaoi manga fan community Thesis by Simon Turner Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies Birkbeck College, University of London London, United Kingdom 2015 Declaration This thesis is a presentation of my original research work. Wherever contributions of others are involved, every effort is made to indicate this clearly, with due reference to the literature. The work was done under the guidance of Dr Joel McKim, Dr Nobuko Anan, and Dr Jonathan Mackintosh. Simon Turner 2 Abstract This thesis examines the queer and affective aspects of an online yaoi fan community. Yaoi is a genre of Japanese manga focussing on homoerotic/homosexual themes. A key point of interest about yaoi is that it is largely created by and for women. Set within the context of yaoi fan studies, this thesis utilises queer theory to investigate how a diverse group of fans comes together in a fan community on the internet in order to explore alternative identities and develop new relationships with like-minded others. According to David Halperin, queer is “whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant” (cited in Sullivan 2003, p.43). I queer yaoi studies and suggest that its fandom is not a homogenous group of heterosexual female fans as has become customarily thought. Expanding on the work of other scholars, I combine original ethnographic research in AarinFantasy (http://www.aarinfantasy.com), a yaoi manga community to demonstrate how, for many fans, an online community is a place to explore and discuss queer alternatives to heteronormative gender and sexuality. I also discuss how members of AarinFantasy invest into the site through affective connections with other fans. By creating and maintaining valued friendships with others members create not only a queer space but also a space where they feel accepted as yaoi fans. Relationships in the community are formed and maintained through communication that is grounded in the fans’ experiences and the contextual state that yaoi manga has in their lives. 3 Contents Declaration ............................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 3 Contents ................................................................................................................................... 4 List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... 6 List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 7 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 8 Research Context ................................................................................................................. 8 AarinFantasy .................................................................................................................... 8 What is yaoi?.................................................................................................................. 13 Why a study of yaoi now?.............................................................................................. 16 Definition of Research Questions ...................................................................................... 17 Thesis Structure ................................................................................................................. 22 Literature Review ................................................................................................................... 25 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 25 What Approaches to Yaoi Have Been Developed to Date and What Aspects of Them Are Problematic? ...................................................................................................................... 26 Female fans as a basis for research ................................................................................ 26 Yaoi and Representation ................................................................................................ 27 Hierarchical Fandom ...................................................................................................... 36 The Anti-Fan and Hierarchy .......................................................................................... 39 Why yaoi? ...................................................................................................................... 44 Transcultural Yaoi ......................................................................................................... 48 Alternative Approaches to Yaoi ......................................................................................... 55 Queer theory ................................................................................................................... 59 Applying queer theory to yaoi studies ........................................................................... 63 Fandom’s affective response .......................................................................................... 66 Affect Theory ................................................................................................................. 67 Affect and Fandom ........................................................................................................ 74 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 82 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 85 Data .................................................................................................................................... 85 Choosing the research site.............................................................................................. 85 Ethnography ....................................................................................................................... 91 Netnography ....................................................................................................................... 95 Problems and ethical issues related to netnography ....................................................... 97 Procedures of Data Collection and Analysis .................................................................... 112 4 Participant recruitment ................................................................................................. 112 Preliminary survey and semi-structured interviews ..................................................... 122 Semi-structured interview process ............................................................................... 123 Coding .............................................................................................................................. 126 Primary coding ............................................................................................................. 127 Secondary coding ......................................................................................................... 128 Researcher Positionality ................................................................................................... 130 Chapter One: Fan Demographics ......................................................................................... 142 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 142 The Importance of Knowing the Fans .............................................................................. 143 Demographics .............................................................................................................. 145 Nationality .................................................................................................................... 150 Age ............................................................................................................................... 154 Sex ............................................................................................................................... 161 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 171 Chapter Two: Fan Sexuality ...............................................................................................