Iron Man in Chinese boys' love fandom: A story untold

2014/09/15 by John Wei · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Digital Games and Media #Cinema and Media Studies #Asian Culture and Media Studies #Fandom #Hollywood #Icon #Art #Popular culture #Literature #Aesthetics #Art history #Gender studies #Sociology

paper · doi:10.3983/twc.2014.0561

openalex publication_date 2014/09/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

Superhero fan fiction is increasingly popular in the Chinese boys' love (BL) community. An exploration of the fan fic Gangtiexia: Zhongdu Yilai (Iron Man: Overly attached) investigates how the Hollywood cultural icon Iron Man/Tony Stark is reimagined in Chinese BL culture and to what degree this kind of rendition both echoes and extends as well as challenges and deviates from our current insights into BL fandoms. Through the lenses of queerness and technological human transformation, I explore the fresh contribution of Iron Man fan fiction to both local BL cultures and global superhero fandoms.

Citations

• The World of Yaoi: The Internet, Censorship and the Global ‘Boys‘ Love’ Fandom
• Forbidden love: incest, generational conflict, and the erotics of power in Chinese BL fiction

Cited by

• Female-Oriented Male-Male Erotica: Comparison of the Engaged Anglophone Demographic and That of the Greater China Area
• Boys' love [wikipedia]

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