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aestheticism; devotion to beauty
The pursuit of or devotion to beauty and sensuous pleasure, especially in art and literature. In modern Japanese pop culture, also refers to a genre featuring beautiful, often romantic depictions of male characters.
In literary criticism, 耽美主義 (aestheticism) refers to the art-for-art's-sake movement. Japanese writers associated with this school include 谷崎潤一郎 and 永井荷風. In modern pop culture, 耽美 is used as a genre label for manga, anime, and fiction featuring idealized, often androgynous male characters and romantic relationships between men (overlapping with BL/ボーイズラブ). Common compounds: 耽美主義 (aestheticism), 耽美的 (aesthetic), 耽美派 (aestheticist school).