TEMPORALIZING THE ENCLAVE: DESIRE SMUGGLING IN CHINESE GENDERSWAP FANFICTION
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Chinese genderswap fanfiction emerges at the intersection of Real Person Slash (RPS) fiction and the trope of gender reversal. By reimagining male idols as female characters, genderswap works fulfill readers’ desires to either observe or engage with these genderswapped personas. However, the genre has faced criticism, with some fans finding the fantasies offensive, leading to a boycott and sparking the February 27th Incident. This incident ignited conflicts between the genderswap fandom and other fan communities.My study of genderswap centers around its textual production, especially the flashpoint text of the February 27th Incident, Falling, in order to examine how desires are enabled, manifested, censored, and smuggled in genderswap works. As the outcome of my three-year research, this thesis consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the prototypes and the defining trope of genderswap works. To contextualize the analysis of genderswap works, it explores the silence of idols and the transcendence of androgyny. Chapter 2 investigates the narrative functions of two features I summarized about genderswap works, namely, preference of boy band members as prototypes and character mutilation. Chapter 3 focuses on fans’ post-227 sentiment and reactions to dominant fandom discourses. By presenting the conflicts and the power structure within fandom, it illustrates how female desires are censored in genderswap works and how temporalities are incorporated as anti-censorship strategies.