LGBTQIA+ Youth in European Series

Queer Texts and Fandom in a Transnational Perspective

Abstract

This article examines the circulation of queer coming-of-age narratives in contemporary European television through a transnational and transcultural perspective. Drawing on queer television studies, transnational media theory, and fandom studies, it analyzes how LGBTQIA+ youth representation is shaped by different cultural, industrial, and socio-political contexts, while simultaneously enabling shared modes of audience identification across borders. The article focuses on two case studies: the multinational format SKAM and its Italian and German adaptations, and Un professore, the Italian adaptation of the Catalan series Merlì. Through close textual analysis and attention to audience reception and fan practices, the article explores how narratives of coming out, queer desire, and community formation are articulated differently within streaming-oriented and mainstream broadcast contexts. While national specificities strongly influence representational choices, the analysis shows that queer experience functions as a key unifying framework for audiences. Transcending linguistic and national boundaries, queer viewers form intimate publics grounded in shared affective structures, emotional recognition, and collective meaning-making. The article argues that contemporary European queer television is defined by a productive tension between contextual specificity and transcultural identification.