WFQS 381 - How Queer is That?

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

Topic for 2026/27a: Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys: Understanding the Global Phenomenon of Asian Boys Love Media. (Same as ASIA 381 and MEDS 381) As a genre, Boys Love (BL) first appeared in Japanese manga (comics and graphic novels) in the 1970s. Though focused on male-male romances between high school students, university studies, or young men working office jobs, these stories were written and illustrated predominantly by women for a female readership. Through early pirated “scanlations,” the genre quickly expanded beyond Japan and manga to include anime, novels, zines, and online fan fiction in other Asian countries as well as in the West. Since 2014, when the genre first migrated to television and web series, BL has become a global phenomenon with hundreds of shows (many based on novels and fan fiction) as well as fan meets, hit songs, and product tie-ins. This course investigates BL’s global reach using texts and methodologies from fan studies, literary studies, media studies and feminist and queer studies. In particular, we explore BL’s significance for debates about female erotics and feminism, queer identities and politics, ongoing legacies of Orientalism, and the dynamics of global capitalism. Jeff Schneider.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: CLS