Fandom-Transcultural desires and lesbian fandom: Takarazuka revue in Taiwan

The emergence of fan communities of popular culture in the cyberspace and through mobile technologies highlights the transnational and transcultural flows of cultural production and circulation. Sinophone fan communities constitute a major deterritorialized network of cultural production and consumption in and outside Asia. The new wave of popularity of Takarazuka Revue in Taiwan after 2000 shows how fandom is inaugurated by the colonial legacy and the postcolonial present where cultural production and consumption are not tied to national identities and boundaries. Taiwan has a long history of fandom of Takarazuka Revue. The queer readings and pleasures of Takarazuka, as produced and enjoyed by lesbian fans, result from the queer potentials of the texts—which include the performances, the image of top stars and the manufacturing of star personality off stage—and the reading strategies of fans. Takarazuka has been widely regarded and understood as a highly heterosexual cultural text and organization.