Yaoi
From Fan History Wiki
Yaoi is actually an acronym for "Yama nashi, Ochi nashi, Imi nashi" which translates to "No climax, no resolution, no meaning." This term is used to describe stories or art that features a male/male relationship. Its counterpart, for female/female, is Yuri.
Contents |
[edit] History
This section needs more information.
[edit] Historical Definitions
The following definition dates to March 2002 in the anime fandom:
- Yaoi is an acronym that stands for "yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi," which means "no climax, no point, no meaning." A strict definition would have it mean "sex between men just for the sake of sex," and drawn by an amateur doujinshi managaka (person who writes/draws manga). But it has evolved from that meaning, especially in the west. It's now used as a general term for male/male relationships, but still emphasizes the sex over the emotions. Or at least, if there are emotions, there's sex, too. It's also supposed to be used for non-original material (i.e. putting Lantis and Eagle in bed together, instead of making up one's own characters).[1]
The following definition dates to August 2003 in the Gundam Wing fandom:
- Yaoi: Male/male relationships[2]
The following definition dates to May 2004 in the Harry Potter, Horatio Hornblower and Pirates of the Caribbean fandoms:
- Yaoi:
- Slash.[3]
The following definition dates to October, 2005 on MediaMiner.Org by fanilia:
- Yaoi: Love between men, particularly of a sexual nature. [4]
The following definition dates to May 2006 in the anime fandom:
- Artwork, comics, games, movies, stories, etc. involving male x male relationships of a sexual nature. "Yaoi" is an acronym for "yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi (no meaning)" which translates to "no climax, no point, no meaning"... an old joke is that it's an acronym for "yamete kudasai, oshiri ga itai yo" (stop it, my butt hurts). Yaoi can contain shonen-ai elements (and often does) or it can be purely sexual. The realism of the pairing is irrelevant. Note that yaoi should really only be used to refer to pairings taken from Japanese media and is denoted Seme(top) x Uke(bottom)... in the Western culture the proper term would be slash. The female x female equivalent is called "yuri."[5]
The following definition is was written by Jane Leavell and updated in June 2006:
- YAOI: In anime, refers to PWP stories about gay relationships, often tragic ones.[6]
The following definition dates to August 2006 in the Gundam Wing fandom:
- Yaoi = The original definition of yaoi is: An acronym for "yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi": no mountain (ie peak; climax), no point, no meaning. No attempt at plot or meaning or character development. The point is sex, and the relationship outside the yaoi doesn't matter. Drawn/written by fans using other people's charas.
- Nowadays, fanfic writers tend to use the term Yaoi in the broad sense for any m/m stories and fanfics, especially those containing lemons.[7]
The following definition dates to April 2007 in the comics fandom:
- YAOI—A term used to describe slash, anime specific. Yaoi is more "hormonally" run, more sexual, less lovey-dovey, enjoy heavily and written by fangirls. Any fic that uses this code is one to be avoided. Not because of homosexual relationships, but because it's probably poorly written and lacks a well made relationship.[8]
The following definition dates to August 2007 in anime fandom:
- Yaoi: an anime/manga story in which the plot is centered around a romance relationship between two male characters, usually at least one of them being very effeminate. There is a good amount of yaoi in many actual anime/manga series', but yaoi is mostly seen in the world of anime fan art and fanfics, in which the fans(usually girls) take the male characters of a particular anime/manga series and put them in gay relationships. Yaoi relationships are also refered to as "shonen-ai," meaning "boy's love." [9]
[edit] Examples
On September 14, 2006, New York City's Thunder's Mouth Press published Zowie! It's Yaoi!: Western Girls Write Hot Stories of Boys' Love, a collection of yaoi inspired stories. This was the first text-based yaoi book written by Western women.[10]
[edit] See also
[edit] External Links
This section needs more information.
[edit] Sources
Below is a partial list of articles and academic sources to help you continue to learn about this fan fiction archive.
- Kelly, William W., ed. Fanning the Flames: Fans and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan. New York: University of New York Press, 2004.
- Sabucco, V. (2003). Guided fan fiction : Western 'readings' of Japanese homosexual-themed texts. In C. Berry, F. Martin, & A. Yue (Eds.), Mobile cultures : new media in queer Asia. Durham: new media in queer Asia.
