The Queer Power in Chinese Dan'gai Drama

Abstract

This thesis investigates the cultural and political significance of Chinese dan’gai dramas through critical textual analysis. Focusing on the specific regulatory, ideological, and commercial context of mainland China, the study explores how dan’gai dramas construct alternative queer narratives under the constraints of media censorship and dominant normative values. The study first situates dan’gai within the broader trajectory of danmei culture and examines its transformation into a form of state-sanctioned popular media. It further analyses how these dramas employ strategies such as affective ambiguity, aesthetic traditionalism, and opacity to negotiate censorship while achieving mainstream legitimacy. The analysis focuses on narrative and visual strategies that enable these texts to circumvent censorship while retaining ambiguous portrayals of same-sex intimacy. Particular attention is paid to the reconfiguration of masculinity through dan’gai male protagonists and to how such characterisations respond to the affective desires of female audiences and the party-state’s expectations. The study further analyses the complex dynamics through which dan’gai dramas negotiate and contest heteronormativity, highlighting the queer potential that emerges through narrative ambiguity and multivalent strategies. It also considers the role of fandom in extending and complicating these meanings, as fan interpretations and creative practices contribute to the ongoing production of non-normative cultural spaces beyond official discourse. Ultimately, this thesis argues that although dan’gai dramas are shaped by ideological and institutional pressures, they continue to generate queer possibilities through affective structures, relational intimacy, and interpretive ambiguity. In doing so, dan’gai sustains alternative modes of attachment and imagination that remain socially perceptible even when explicit LGBTQ+ representation is constrained.