Yaoi as Fanwork: Cultural Appropriation in Modern Japanese Culture

This paper aims to discuss the generation of Yaoi fanwork, one of the forms of cultural appropriation in modern Japanese culture. The concept of appropriation as used in this paper refers to a cultural practice of the people belonging to a subculture, who redefine the dominant meaning to suit their own purpose. Yaoi fanwork is defined as a female-oriented production that focuses on the depiction of male bonding in popular media and develops it into a romantic relationship. Through this cultural practice, female fans adapt and appropriate dominant texts. This paper investigates how Yaoi fans subvert authorship and canonicity by examining self-published works. Thus, it is concluded that Yaoi fanwork is an alternate form of creativity in modern popular culture.