Dangai fandoms under crossfire

The making of queer love in a permeable and convergent media ecology

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21836660
AutoresYidong Wang (0000-0001-6552-6466, University of Kansas), Y Wang (0000-0002-4822-6514, University of Kansas), Yilan Wang (0000-0002-8230-4176)
Año2023
Volumen41
Fecha de publicación2023-12-14
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaTransformative Works and Cultures (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1941-2258 • E-ISSN: 1941-2258
EditorialTransformative Works and Cultures (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3983/twc.2023.2273
OpenAlexW4389728824
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2

Dangai web series burgeoned in the People's Republic of China in the late 2010s and introduced mainstream audiences to a brand of semihomoerotic media culture. We develop an ecological analysis of dangai production by surveying the four processes of online literature creation, entertainment production, censorship and regulation, and fan participation. We propose two arguments on media convergence/permeability and on queer fandom disruption. First, permeability and convergence characterize the production processes around dangai, with heterogeneous fandoms communicating intersystematically. Diverse, interconnected networks of fans serve as the infrastructure for dangai circulation among different audiences and uphold an interpretative framework prioritizing participation. Second, the broad circulation of dangai in different fields of cultural production opens an apolitical pathway for queer media representation to gain legitimacy. This pathway hinges on the tension between state control and pleasure-driven participation rather than ideological claims of identity politics

Censorship · Fandom · Ideology · Mainstream · Media ecology · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Queer · Sociology · Technological convergence · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Computer Science · Digital Games and Media · Gender Studies · Japanese History and Culture · Law