Started reading some academic papers on danmei and I will post about them regularly. Here're some excerpts from one that traces the genealogy of danmei:
"Early danmei writers usually wrote out of interest and posted their works on online forums for free. Their writings were marked by a daredevil spirit and were filled with raw energy. Popular on Lucifer and Jinjiang were subgenres that contained elements of ‘grotesque eroticism,’ such as incestual love stories between male relatives and ‘abuse novels’ (虐文) that featured rape, BDSM and imprisonment.
Early danmei fans followed the principle of ‘quandi zimeng’ (圈地自萌), a fan terminology meaning ‘claiming your own land, enjoying yourself on your own "territory’." The underground popularity of danmei nevertheless caught the attention of the mainstream and official Chinese media. As early as 2004, a media report claimed that homosexuality was a psychological perversion and reading too much danmei could change one’s sexual orientation. During the 2007 annual anti-pornography campaign, hundreds of danmei forums and e-libraries based in Xilu and Lequeyuan were wiped out, resulting in the loss of a large quantity of creative works and meta essays. A number of danmei-related Baidu Post Bars were also forced to close. Through a variety of resistance tactics, however, danmei fandom quickly bounced back and entered a stage of rapid expansion."
-‘OPENING THE DOOR TO A NEW WORLD’: Danmei and the Gender Revolution in China, by Ling Yang and Yanrui Xu
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