"Is He More of a Flower or a Cologne Man?": Populism and Queer Asian Masculinity in Shadowhunters

• Main Authors: Célia Jacquet, 賽麗婭
• Other Authors: Amie Elizabeth. Parry
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/vm5832

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 亞際文化研究國際學位學程 === 107 === This thesis will discuss masculinity and race politics through the analysis of the character of Magnus Bane in the TV show Shadowhunters and in slash (sexualized and homoerotic fanfictions). Originally created by Cassandra Clare in her Young Adult novel series The Mortal Instruments and published between 2007 and 2014, the bisexual Asian male character has rapidly become a favorite among the fans of both the original novels and the TV shows, resulting in the creation of an upcoming new book series featuring him as the leading character. Although he has a minor role in the original work, his character has gained much more importance in the television adaptation Shadowhunters, broadcast from January 2016 to May 2019. As a “freewheeling bisexual”, I read Magnus Bane as an unconstrained and ambivalent character distinguished for his relative disregard for rules and conventions. I propose to situate Magnus Bane as a challenging character not because of his queer masculinity, but rather for his rebellious and anti-conformist queer portrayal of Asian masculinity in a western context. In this thesis, I situate Magnus Bane at the crossroads of a globalized renewal of concepts of masculinity, the continuity of the portrayal of Asian men in Western media, and the contradictive inclusiveness of non-normative identities in the tense contemporary context of white populism in Western societies. I especially read him through the lenses of the idea of the rise of racialized populism and the far right in the West (although it is a more global phenomenon), the embodiment of queerness as an empowering force, as well as with the reading of slash as a transformative androgynous romance.