Counterpublic but obedient: a case of Taiwan’s BL fandom

BL (Boys’ Love) fandom has been regarded as a counterpublic by some academics since 2005. In this article, I investigate the dispute over “real-person” texts (texts based not on fictional characters but on real people, both public and non-public figures) on the BL board of PTT BBS in Taiwan as a case-study. The dispute is significant in the sense that, ostensibly, there were a few young female BL fans who actively defined what the BL scene consists of, as only these young women were involved in the dispute. Nevertheless, a closer look at the dispute reveals that the mainstream values actually played a significant role in framing the fandom in question. I then argue that the objection to the real-person texts should be regarded as a refusal by the BL fandom to be part of a counterpublic. The dispute started with a clarification of the genre, equating real-person with real gay people, BL with fantasy, and gay with reality. It is on this basis that real-person texts were not regarded as part of BL practices. Moral issues, such as respect and politeness, were also raised to question real-person texts. The conflict intensified, leading finally to the total exclusion of real-person texts from the BL board. To sum up, the dispute over real-person texts demonstrates how BL fans actively (re)formed the shape of the BL board; at the same time, it represents a refusal and exclusions, which place this counterpublic into question.