1.
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.
耽美的な世界観。
An aesthetic worldview.
耽美主義の文学は美しさを最も重要な価値とする。
Aestheticist literature regards beauty as the most important value.
谷崎潤一郎は日本の耽美派を代表する作家として知られている。
Tanizaki Jun'ichiro is known as a leading writer of the Japanese aestheticist school.
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).