UNAUTHORIZED ROMANCES: INTERNET YAOI FAN FICTION

Event details
Speaker : Ms Tan Bee Kee, MA candidate
               Department of Japanese Studies, NUS
Date      : Monday, 14 May 2007
Time      : 10:30am - 12:00noon
Venue    : AS4/03-28 (JS Meeting Room)

Abstract

This presentation analyzes gender and sexuality in the texts of yaoi fan fiction based on the anime/manga series Weiss Kreuz. Yaoi is a Japanese acronym meaning “Yama nashi Ochi nashi Imi nashi” or “No climax, no point, no meaning”, a term used in Japan to refer to explicit fan manga drawn by amateurs, usually women, which appropriates male characters from mainstream manga and puts them together in homoerotic romantic/sexual situations. English-speaking fans have appropriated the term to describe fandom revolving around pairing up male characters in homoerotic romantic/sexual situations from mainstream manga/anime as well as commercial homoerotic manga/anime for women (known as BL or “Boys' Love” in Japan ). Yaoi 's differences from slash (the Western version of yaoi based on Western media texts such as movies or TV shows like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter ) are examined. Fan motivation and yaoi fan fiction's (derivative stories written by fans based on original media texts) uneasy relationship with pornography and romance will also be explored.

About the speaker

Tan Bee Kee graduated from NUS in 2001 with B.A. (Hons) in English Literature. After working for a while, she returned to NUS, this time to the Department of Japanese Studies, to pursue a M.A. degree.