Fandom and heterotopia : the queering and gendering of the Umbrella movement through boys’ Love

Abstract

The 79 days of occupation during the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong in 2014 witnessed various forms of participating in the movement. Among them is a boys’ love fandom which dedicates itself to its male student leaders. The existence of the fandom is frequently cited but remains little understood. This dissertation examines the relationship between fan activism, social movements, and the meaning-making process by the fandom members. To achieve these aims, this study features an in-depth content analysis of thirteen excerpts from Umbrella Movement boys’ love fanfiction and online posts by the fandom members. Thus, this paper offers a first glance into the fictional world depicted in the boys’ love texts. As this study shall reveal, the notion of heterotopia conceptualized by Michel Foucault will be key in understanding how the occupied area provides a playground of the mind for the boys’ love readers and writers. This dissertation shall argue that instead of being frivolous texts, the boys’ love fanfiction contains explicit political and social commentaries, ranging from advocating for genuine universal suffrage to subverting local gender norms. Furthermore, this study will engage with the notion of play as theorized by John Huizinga to argue that the play-forms of boys’ love fanfiction is an indispensable tool to reimagining Hong Kong during the occupation period.