The Engaged Spectator: Reading BL Novels in Contemporary China

Abstract

Can a reader, upon reading literary fictions, be moved into social actions or engage in socially meaningful activities? If it is so, then will reading gay-themed, popular fictions mean anything for the LGBTQ issue in contemporary China? This article argues that a reader of gay-themed, “Boys Love” (or “BL” for short) novels may be moved into taking some social actions for greater tolerance and acceptance of the LGBTQ community in contemporary China, based on the concept of “engaged spectator”, which is a reconstruct of Adam Smith’s moral–psychological model of “impartial spectator” into an actively reading, socially engaged agent taking affirmative actions to bring about greater social justice. This “engaged spectator” shall have a few steps in its active reading of fictions and engaging in transformative social actions, namely “subjective identification”, “ambience appreciation”, and finally, “social engagement”—the three of which are in a lexical order. This tri-step model is based on a neuropsychological reading of Adam Smith into the reader empathy theory. Furthermore, this model is illustrated with Kirin, a popular BL novel, where the reader may engage in social actions to create a more tolerant environment for the LGBTQ community in contemporary China. The three steps outlined above shall offer us an account of explaining how an active reading experience may lead to a socially transformative result.