JAIST Repository
https://dspace.jaist.ac.jp/Title

二次創作コミュニティにおけるつながりの実践に関する文化人類学的研究―「愛」の評価をめぐる闘争と調停

Author(s)水元, 朋子CitationIssue Date

2017‑03

TypeThesis or Dissertation

Text version

ETDURLhttp://hdl.handle.net/10119/14239

RightsDescription

Supervisor:伊藤泰信, 知識科学研究科, 博士

Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

An anthropological study
on the practices in the fanfiction community:
Rivalries and arbitrations over ”love”
This research’s target is “Fujoshi”, girls and women who love gay fiction
and imaginative stories. It studies their fanfiction activities and usage ofmedia, aiming to understand how a boundary that separates in and out of acommunity is formed. It also seeks to discover what connection and sharedknowledge exist among people who come together because of common hobby
and interests, when their relationship is based on media and other forum,reality and virtual reality.
Existing Fujoshi studies agree that these women-only communities play ahealing and self-acceptance role for ladies who feel oppressed inmale-dominated society. In addition, some studies captured Fujoshi as acreative group because of the fact that some participate in expressive activity
called fanfiction. However, not much argument has taken place thatconsiders Fujoshi as a both conflictive and creative community built on
artistic interest, where members compete for attention for their respective
piece of work. Moreover, Fujoshi community’s media use has evolved alongwith spread and development of IT devices. This has caused changes in theirstyle of creative activities and consumption, as well as interaction among
members. However, I have not come across a research that explores in detailFujoshi community and their use of media, particularly in regards to current
practices of Fujoshi in the complex real society.
This research aims to qualitatively analyze what network of factors anditems are required to comprise a Fujoshi community. It stands on anassumption that characteristics and psychology of Fujoshi are not a productof Fujoshi themselves, but of a complex interaction of various items andpeople. That is the uniqueness of this study, together with that it includes aperspective as a native Fujoshi, while striving to understand Fujoshi
community through a participatory observation from culture anthropologicalviewpoint. In addition, it introduces the same viewpoint to the topic of1

reality versus virtual world, which has been a common theme in IT, social
science and cognitive science.
This research utilizes theories of social structure to describe the Fujoshi
who are involved in fanfiction among other Fujoshi, as a more multi-layeredand evolving group of people. It successfully reveals Fujoshi, regarding what
context and perspective these women have in interacting with others, items
and surroundings. It also talks about the ways in which these ladies shareand evaluate knowledge, maintain and form communities. Fujoshi has
always been considered negatively as something that cannot be understoodby ordinary people. However, this research exposes a part of their lifestyleand real practices from a perspective of a native Fujoshi, in a way that anoutsider could access and comprehend it.
This study revealed that Fujoshi shows "love" toward their subjects bycreating fanworks and fighting over the value of said "love" within theircommunity. This "love" takes the form of their interpretations of theirsubjects, but since these are built upon their various knowledge andexperiences, all of these interpretations differ from one another. Due to this,
it is possible for conflict to arise amongst differing interpretations in thecommunity. However, Fujoshi conceal their differences within such internal
standards as "everyone is a friend" and "accept any and all expressions,"
attempting to connect through positive communication. The reason for this isthat, although they pit their "loves" against each other within theircommunity, the ones evaluating said "loves" are also members of the samecommunity. Furthermore, they learn about and compare differinginterpretations, and try to secure their own originality. Rather than sharing
identical interpretations and forming a connection in this way, they treat
each individual interpretation as part of an open source. By accumulatinginterpretations within the community and sharing the thus formed databaseof interpretations among fellow members, they feel a connection between one
another.

At the same time, it was revealed that through forming

relationships with high amounts of anonymity, they are not bound by theirphysical attributes (age, marital status, birthplace, etc.), allowing them toconstruct an ideal space where they can develop their ideas freely and2

without observation.
It was revealed that fanfiction-creating Fujoshi communities contain twoconflicts. (1) The conflict between the self who is an "ordinary person" andthe self who is a "fujoshi" who deviates from the standards of ordinarysociety, both of which exist simultaneously. (2) The conflict arising fromforming relationships with information communication devices as a methodof expressing their "love," forcing them to constantly put their private works
in a place where a large unspecified number of people gather.
In addition, fanfiction-creating Fujoshi communities that use the Internet
as their main venue of communication construct an ideal space where they
can develop their ideas freely and without observation through forming
relationships with high amounts of anonymity, not bound by their personal
information in reality (birthplace, age, education, ethnicity, etc.). Since
people in this kind of space are connected by exceedingly private matters, thecommunity must be exclusive in order to protect individual identities.
However, it was also revealed that this exclusiveness further strengthens
their sense of community.
Key word : Fujoshi, community, fanfiction, “love”, fight and arbitration3