Evolving yet contentious transcultural fanscapes: Peruvian fans’ accounts of K-pop and its fandoms

Abstract

Global fans’ engagement with K-pop (South Korean pop music) demonstrates how audiences’ daily lives and identities are interwoven with transcultural media. This study explores how global K-pop fan cultures have evolved along with the genre’s expansion overseas, with particular reference to Peruvian fans in the Global South context. Drawing on Peruvian fans’ accounts of the global K-pop fanscapes – the universes experienced and mediated through fan practices, the study addresses the complexities, negotiations, and conflicts in audience engagement with transcultural media. By examining how K-pop fans in a distant locale imaginarily identify with K-pop idols and interact with other global fans and non-fans, the study reveals that local fans may realize their identity in the global fanscapes while being aware of power relations that operate between different audiences.

Introduction

Among various forms of media practices, global K-pop (South Korean pop music) fans’ engagement with this emerging cultural genre offers a vivid example of how audiences’ daily lives and identities are interwoven with transcultural media. K-pop’s popularity expanded from Asia (since the late 1990s) to the Americas and elsewhere in the first two decades of the 21st century. The genre’s transcultural circulation has turned out to be more than a fad as it has evolved and matured with highly engaged, long-term fan audiences of 10 or more years. As the global K-pop fandom has already existed for over two decades, this is an important moment to reflect on the evolution of this transcultural phenomenon through long-term fans’ narratives and thereby explore K-pop’s transcultural and grassroots meanings in progress. To enrich the nascent research on transcultural fan audiences, the current study explores how K-pop fan cultures have evolved along with the genre’s global expansion in the Global South, an understudied region. The present study thus aims to address complexities, negotiations, and conflicts in audience engagement with transcultural media.

The study focuses on Peruvian fans’ transcultural connections with K-pop idols and with other global K-pop fans in their mediated landscapes, which will be referred to as “fanscapes” in this article. Connection is a common fan practice observed in fandoms (Duffett, 2013; Ferris and Harris, 2011; Hills, 2015). Peruvian K-pop fans in the current study also explore and experience various connections with their favorite stars (K-pop idols) and other fans, not only locally but also globally, and they distinguish themselves from non-fans. While K-pop fans’ connective practices may seem similar to those in other fandoms, the Peruvian fans in the current study are deeply immersed in transcultural connections that contribute not only to unity and solidarity but also to tensions and conflicts in the global fanscapes – the imagined universes and communities that are experienced and mediated through fan practices. Drawing on qualitative interviews, the study examines how the Peruvian fans of K-pop, who are situated in a relatively distant locale of the Global South, imaginarily identify with K-pop idols and interact with other global fans and non-fans.

Despite the flourishing discussions and observations of the global K-pop phenomenon, existing studies have insufficiently explored fan practices in the long-term context of K-pop’s evolution or from a transcultural perspective. Latin fans have been known for their enthusiasm for K-pop among the global fan base (Han, 2017; Jang, 2022; Jin et al., 2021; Carranza Ko et al., 2014). From Lima to Mexico City, K-pop has emerged as cultural space for (subcultural) young people’s playful and participatory fan practices to perform their identities and collective voices (Diaz Pino, 2021; Park, 2022). Given the significant geocultural distance between Latin America and South Korea, Latin Americans’ engagement with K-pop interestingly demonstrates how fan practices become transcultural and how fans utilize cultural resources that originated in different geographical and historical contexts.

Among other Latin American locations, Peru presents an interesting case because of its location in the Global South. Compared to other Latin reception points of K-pop that have been researched – Chile and Mexico in particular – Peru is relatively clearly identified as a Global South country in terms of its economic condition. A Peruvian case study of K-pop fan practices will demonstrate how a non-Western pop culture genre is consumed in the Global South context. The Global North (or otherwise Asia) has been relatively frequently represented in studies on K-pop for several reasons, such as the over-representation of US-based scholars and North American, Anglophone publications. However, K-pop’s integration into Global South contexts reveals how the genre’s relatively remote and marginal reception points engage with transcultural meaning-making especially through interactions with non-fans, stars, and other fans. By examining Peruvian fans’ long-term interactions with the K-pop universes through their own voices, the current study shows the potential and limitations of the evolving transcultural fanscapes. After reviewing the existing studies and introducing the research methods, this article will address how Peruvian fans interact respectively with non-fans, K-pop idols, and global fans. These three areas of connection will reveal the different yet interwoven meanings implied in the transcultural flows of K-pop.

Understanding transcultural fan audiences

Audiences’ lived experiences have increasingly been integrated into transnational and transcultural mediascapes. Among various groups of audiences, fans have attracted scholarly attention owing to their relatively visible transcultural activities (Hills, 2018; Morimoto, 2017). For fan audiences immersed in transnational media texts, their national identities become less significant and, instead, cross-cultural interpretive communities increasingly gain significance (Hills, 2018: 189). Recent fan audiences’ engagement with alternative, non-Western cultural circulation calls for a new framework that moves beyond the dominant, Western-centric discourse on cultural globalization. In this regard, some studies have provided insights for analyzing transnational or transcultural audience engagement. In the 21st century, several significant publications on transcultural flows in non-Western contexts have focused on contraflows (Thussu, 2006), non-Western/intra-regional cultural flows (Darling-Wolf, 2014; Iwabuchi, 2002; Larkin, 2020), or minor transnationalism (Lionnet and Shih, 2005). These pioneering studies have contributed to our understanding of how audiences in a non-Western context explore versatile meanings in cultural texts produced in another non-Western context while negotiating Western gatekeepers.

Transcultural audience engagement has been referred to as “user-led transnationalism” (Athique, 2017) or “bottom-up transnationalism” (Lukács, 2010) because it challenges, negotiates, or detours official and mainstream routes of media circulation and explores “alternative (bottom-up) practices of media circulation” (Lukács, 2010: 179). Within audience studies, fan studies have gradually addressed transnational (and more recently transcultural) media flows and fan activities. However, fan studies (at least in the Western context) have focused on fan subjects from majority backgrounds (e.g. White men; Stanfill, 2019). Moreover, fan studies have not sufficiently elaborated on transcultural meaning-making in the midst of an increase in media flows while still focusing on nationality-based approaches rather than on diverse cross-cultural and intersectional moments (Morimoto, 2017).

In this regard, several researchers’ proposal of a shift from a transnational approach toward a transcultural approach in audience studies is worth noting (Annett, 2011; Chin and Morimoto, 2013; Min et al., 2019; Morimoto, 2017). They have suggested that fans can develop transcultural affinities with fan objects and fans overseas. In particular, Morimoto (2017) proposed that transcultural approaches to fan studies will effectively address the existing heterogeneity in fan communities and their various forms of border-crossing – not only across nation-states’ boundaries. A transcultural approach may uncover the diverse and intersectional identities involved in fan communities (Morimoto, 2017). The transcultural approach to media fans can be even further articulated with minor-minor networks, which can be observed in non-Western media flows, such as Latin fans’ consumption of K-pop. As Lionnet and Shih (2005) suggested, cultural flows through non-Western, minor subjects may reveal “a space of exchange and participation wherever processes of hybridization occur and where it is still possible for cultures to be produced and performed without necessary mediation by the center” (p. 5).

Latin American fans’ engagement with K-pop offers interesting case studies for alternative dynamism in cultural globalization, which can be referred to as “minor transnationalism” (Lionnet and Shih, 2005), “contraflows” (Thussu, 2006), or “recentering globalization” (Iwabuchi, 2002). Recent empirical studies have provided insight into how Latin fan audiences, who are in relatively minor positions in the global mediascape, explore cultural meanings that are alternative to hegemonic Western media through their engagement with K-pop. By and large, existing studies have presented two different perspectives on K-pop’s meanings among Latin fan audiences.

First, a group of studies highlights the potential of K-pop as an imaginary yet intimate youth cultural resource for Latin fans to escape the social contradictions that they face and to explore alternative meanings (Carranza Ko et al., 2014; Han, 2017; Jang, 2021; Min, 2021b; Min et al., 2019; Regatieri, 2017). For example, in her study of Chilean K-pop fans, Min (2021b) found that K-pop was translated into a cultural resource of “identity and trust,” and it gave these fans “the possibility of finding new ways to express themselves” (p. 183). Similarly, Han (2017) argued that K-pop allowed Latin American fans to imagine an alternative social identity that moves beyond their own society’s restrictions. In the Peruvian context, Carranza Ko et al. (2014) also examined fans’ search for an alternative and imaginary space through their affinity with K-pop. Furthermore, Jang (2021) explored the Latin American K-pop fandom as a networked public working to solve specific social problems and share affective intimacies especially during the pandemic period.

Second, the other group of studies on Latin American fans reveals that K-pop not only provides the fans with an alternative space for coping with social contradictions but also signifies a cultural genre that reinforces existing racial hierarchies and capitalist ideologies (Humphreys, 2021; Min, 2021a; Yoo, 2023). In her study of K-pop fans in Cuba, Humphreys (2021: 1024) observed fans exploring “a neoliberal solidarity that promises individual success” through their engagement with K-pop. That is, K-pop offers Cuban fans “experiences of pleasure and self-fulfillment,” but their experiences are not free of the neoliberal ideologies implicated in K-pop as a pop cultural commodity genre. Latin American consumption of K-pop can also serve to reproduce the racialization of Asian culture as Other. In particular, studies by Min (2021a) and Yoo (2023) revealed that despite challenging the existing racial stereotypes of Asian cultures, Latin fans’ engagement with K-pop is not fully free of the Orientalist view on the Asian Other.

Overall, the existing empirical studies of K-pop fans in Latin America have explored local fan audiences’ transcultural engagement with K-pop as a non-Western, Asian cultural resource. However, Latin American case studies are still scarce and nascent. Although these studies have examined Latin fans’ cross-cultural interactions with K-pop texts and celebrities, they have insufficiently explored how Latin fans think about their identity as global K-pop fans in relation to other (non-Latin) fans and how transcultural identifications in global fan communities may affect their identity positions. Moreover, existing studies have not addressed the long-term process of fandoms’ evolution. Therefore, the current study examines how long-term Latin fans have experienced transcultural interactions not only with K-pop and its idols but also with global fans.

Methods

This article presents an analysis of online interviews conducted in November and December 2023. The Peruvian co-author carried out Zoom-assisted remote interviews with respectively 22 participants, who were identified with pseudonyms in the article. The participants were recruited via snowballing through the fans who participated in the authors’ previous project in 2021 (Yoon and Labarta Garcia, 2024). Consequently, relatively long-term fans who had experienced the evolving processes of K-pop’s transcultural flows were recruited. Among the participants, 16 interviewees were women, 5 were men (including 1 trans man), and 1 was non-binary. Their ages ranged from 18 to 35 years, with an average age of 24 years. Of the 22 participants, 11 were working adults and the rest were university students. Most participants (n = 15) self-identified as Mestizo; the rest considered themselves as Afro-Peruvians (n = 2), Indigenous (n = 2), Trigeño (n = 1), otherwise chose not to say (n = 1), or defined themselves only as “Peruvian” (n = 2). ¹

Most participants were long-term fans. They had been K-pop fans for an average time of 9.8 years (between 3 and 15 years). Five participants considered themselves to be “multi-fandom” fans who followed four or more groups, while the rest primarily followed one or two groups. Compared to K-pop fans in existing audience studies of K-pop, who are relatively recent and younger fans in the Global North, the participants in the current study are relatively long-term fans who have dedicated themselves to the genre for as long as two decades. Many participants have experienced and observed different phases of the global K-pop phenomenon – at least across two “generations” of K-pop idols among the so-called second (2003–2012), third (2012–2019), and fourth (2019–present) generations of K-pop idols.

The interviews, conducted in Spanish, were recorded, transcribed, and translated for analysis. In the process of repeated reading and open coding of the transcripts, several thematic categories emerged. To explore the Peruvian fans’ transcultural engagement with K-pop, their connections with others appeared particularly important – especially interactions with non-fans (mainstream youth and family), K-pop idols and texts, and other K-pop fans (of different geocultural and generational backgrounds).

Connections with non-fans

The research participants’ accounts of how Korean pop culture is perceived in Peru suggest that K-pop is a cultural product from a distant, still under-recognized location for mainstream audiences in the country. The Peruvian fans in the present study often highlighted that non-fans negatively responded to their cultural taste for K-pop as an unknown cultural genre. Similar to K-pop fans in other Latin contexts (Han, 2017; Jin et al., 2021; Min, 2021a), K-pop and its fans are subjected to marginalization, primarily due to stereotypes attached to East Asian culture in Peruvian society. In particular, according to the participants, K-pop is often signified as a racialized and gendered (effeminized) cultural genre among (mainstream) Peruvian youth.

First, K-pop is racially stereotyped as a “Chinese” cultural form; thus, its fans are considered Asia fetishists in the public discourse. For example, Carolina, a 22-year-old university student, noted:

I have a group of friends at my university, and I’m the only one who’s a K-popper, so they call me [laughs] . . .I mean, I treat it as a joke because I know they’re not doing it to hurt me, but they do it for laughs. . . like, they’ll say, “Come on, say oniichan!” [i.e., an older brother in Japanese] [laughs] and I would say, like, “I’m not an otaku; I’m a K-popper and oniichan is Japanese.” So, they [my friends] relate listening to K-pop to people liking anime or those types of things.

According to the participants, non-fans have conveniently called the cultural genre of K-pop “Chino” (Chinese) music, whereas K-pop fans have developed cultural literacy to appreciate and distinguish the unique characteristics of K-pop from the stereotyped “Chino.” Most Peruvian fans in this study felt discriminated against by non-fans due to their taste for K-pop. Their accounts resonate with existing studies on K-pop fans in Latin America (Jin et al., 2021; Min, 2021a). Those studies have revealed that K-pop and its overseas audiences tend to be relatively marginalized. As East Asian culture and people have been called “Chino” in Peru, it may not be surprising that K-pop is stereotyped as “Chino” culture among the public.

Some participants claimed that the use of the term “Chino” might not necessarily be intentionally discriminatory but is rather due to a lack of knowledge and cultural literacy. While the term “Chino” appears pervasive in Peruvians’ daily lives, the blunt categorization of diverse Asian cultural forms as Chinese is indisputably stereotyping. The participants have tried to inform their peers and family members of differences that exist between Asian cultures – often repeating the specific phrase, “They’re not Chinese; they’re Korean.” The Peruvian fans thus exhibit cultural awareness and literacy with which they can distinguish Korean culture from other Asian cultures. They have developed their own ways of appreciating the K in K-pop without stereotyping or fetishizing the unfamiliar culture. The Peruvian fans’ display of cultural literacy regarding K-pop that questions the “Chino” stereotype may resonate with several previous studies on Latin American K-pop fans conducted in Mexico (Yoo, 2023) and Chile (Jin et al., 2021; Min, 2021a).

Second, K-pop tends to be marginalized as an effeminized cultural form among mainstream (non-fan) audiences. According to the respondents’ observation of their (non-fan) peers’ responses, male K-pop idols are often contrasted with dominant masculinity and are thus considered effeminate. Dario, a 25-year-old professional dancer, noted that some K-pop fans cannot identify themselves as K-pop fans in public because of the stigma attached to male K-pop enthusiasts as those who lack masculinity: “I have met young guys who say, ‘I can’t say I like K-pop because then they’ll call me gay’.” Male K-pop idols’ dance moves, make-up, and outfits are sharply contrasted with those of typical Peruvian male celebrities. K-pop artists’ soft masculinity appears to violate the rigid gender roles in Peruvian society. Carla, a 27-year-old fan who had been enthusiastic about K-pop since her mid-teens (for over 12 years), recalled:

Around 2012 and 2013, you couldn’t really talk about K-pop because they [male classmates] would call them [the idols] “homosexual,” “gay,” or even “effeminate,” and so many other things. I even remember when a teacher said those things, like made fun of me in front of the whole class. That day I had just bought an album and he made fun of me (. . .) so, I always tried to keep a low profile about it [being a K-pop fan].

Several participants claimed that the effeminized meanings attached to K-pop among Peruvian (non-fan) young people became a barrier for potential male fans to openly be K-pop fans. According to Carla, K-pop was not openly accepted because “Peruvian society is very, very conservative” – especially concerning gender roles. She noted:

There’s a lot of [stereotyping and stigmatization such as] “Oh, he’s metrosexual” or “he’s gay” in Peru. Previously, it was really hard to find [K-pop] fanboys, and now, there are more, especially if you go to Alameda [a location in Lima known for K-pop fans’ gatherings and performances], but I think they’re still hiding their interest in other places.

Similarly, Leticia, a 25-year-old fan, talked about how dominant masculinity in Peru may marginalize, and be contrasted with, the new masculinity represented by young male K-pop idols:

For my friends, a man is someone who is very masculine, has a beard, and is strong, and you obviously don’t see that [in K-pop] since the Koreans, their physical aspect, is more pretty, you know? They take care of their skin, they don’t have beards, and a lot of the time, when they start off in K-pop as rookies, they’re really skinny.

As Leticia and other participants noted, the stereotyping of K-pop as an effeminized cultural genre may explain the high visibility of female fans compared to male fans in Peruvian K-pop communities.

It is not only male fans but also female fans who are marginalized owing to their interest in the effeminized cultural genre of K-pop. Marcela, a 21-year-old student, spoke about not being able to share K-Pop openly because of the stigmatization of K-pop fangirls:

Unfortunately, I think I really had to keep a low profile about it [liking K-pop] in school, because it’s like, “Oh, you like K-pop? That must mean that you only watch Doramas [Korean TV dramas], you only listen to K-pop, you breathe K-pop, you want a Korean boyfriend,” like, Ah [sighs] all that. So, because I felt all that, I didn’t really want to bring any attention to it. I had a classmate who did openly share that she liked it. She had keychains of her koreanitos [i.e., favorite K-pop idols] [laughs] and their photocards, and she talked about them, but I couldn’t be like that. I didn’t want to be labelled as that girl in the classroom – the one who just likes Korean stuff. That’s what they did to my classmate. That’s how they labelled her.

According to the fans in the study, K-pop is negatively stereotyped overall as a racialized (“Chino”) and/or effeminized cultural genre. It was not uncommon for their (non-fan) peers and family members to question why they started listening to this “music out of nowhere” (Fernanda, a 22-year-old fan of Blackpink). The Peruvian fans have renegotiated the dominant Othering of K-pop and Asian culture, which is pervasive among non-K-pop fans, by exploring their cultural literacy and awareness of differences (Min, 2021a; Montt Strabucchi et al., 2022; Yoo, 2023). The fans’ engagement with minor tastes may show minor-minor cultural flows – the introduction and consumption of non-Western, racialized media in another non-Western context.

Transcultural connections with K-pop idols

By overcoming (or bypassing) non-fans’ discriminatory and hegemonic views on K-pop as “Chino” culture, Peruvian fans in the current study have strengthened their transcultural connection with the K-pop universe. In particular, the fans’ connective practices could be observed in their intimate connection to the K-pop idols whom they follow. Despite the geocultural distance between Korea-based stars and Latin American fans, the Peruvian fans have continuously followed their K-pop idols’ stories through digital and social media. The participants identified fan–star bonding as a core characteristic of K-pop fan practices. Leticia, the aforementioned 25-year-old fan who is also a psychologist, described the unique interactivity of K-pop fan–star relationships owing to the various opportunities to connect with idols online:

With all the various programs, you feel like you’re getting to know the person, the artist. Through the reality shows that they [idols] release, you often see their personalities come out. You start to build familiarity with them rather than something superficial. Through fun times, even embarrassing times, despite maybe not wanting to, they start showing their personalities, and that makes you trust them. You don’t really see that when it comes to fans of Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and American pop culture in general. That’s what makes K-pop different from the rest. The relationship you have with the [K-pop idol] groups, that connection.

Identifying with K-pop idols helped the Peruvian fans cope with the challenges they had in their transition to adulthood, and they felt increased self-confidence. For example, Fernanda, a 22-year-old fan of Blackpink, spoke about her feeling close to the girl group as a fellow woman:

I like to relate to their [Blackpink] fashion sense and their personalities. Actually, at one point, I thought of them as older sisters [laughs]. One way or another, I admire them as women because they’ve had so much discipline, and as women, they’ve been exposed more to criticism, especially on the topic of their physical appearances. . . When I have a problem and then see how much they [Blackpink] have overcome, I feel like I’m not the only one. The artist I like went through the same thing and they came out of it, so I will too. They’ve also helped me discover my own sense of style. Previously, I never liked dressing in a way that brought people’s attention to myself so that they could stare at me, but now, I think it’s great seeing someone dress how they want. I’m not embarrassed anymore.

The sense of empowerment suggested in Fernanda’s identification with Blackpink may be debatable. As some critical scholars have noted, several K-pop girl groups’ presentations of girl power, which on the surface seem to empower women (and LGBTQ people) against patriarchy, may be nothing more than postfeminist (or celebrity feminist) gestures that, in reality, commodify the female body and identity (Li, 2022; Zhao, 2021). Indeed, several participants criticized the fierce sexualization of female idols for commercial interests, but most compared K-pop idols’ seemingly liberated and confident attitudes with the sociocultural norms in the “very, very conservative Peruvian society” (Carla, the aforementioned 27-year-old fan). By doing so, they seemed to explore alternative, if not subversive, cultural resources with which they could critically question their dominant cultural norms.

Along with identification practices, some fans playfully engaged in fan activities, such as singing along, doing dance covers (and video recordings/sharing of them), and talking about K-pop. For example, recollecting her high school days around 2020, Martina, an 18-year-old university student, noted:

[Despite usually being low-key about expressing my interest in K-pop] When I was in second grade (of high school), K-pop was becoming a little bit more well-known in school, with some classrooms even listening to it. So, I took advantage of it and decided, with all of my classmates, that we were going to dance to K-pop [laughs], and we did!

Similarly, 22-year-old university student Antonio recalled his high school days: “Towards the end of high school, we had a campaign for our school’s football match. (. . .) we started taking Blackpink songs and changing the lyrics so we could sing at the match. So, every lunch break, we would sing these modified lyrics and practice [laughs].” Performing K-pop is thus a way for fans to express their taste and identity through a sense of connection with idols and other fans.

Identification with K-pop idols, who are geoculturally distant from the Peruvian fans, appears to be advanced through particular processes of imaginarily reducing the distance. Indeed, most participants expressed appreciation for the highly interactive fan–star relationships that dilute the sense of geocultural distance. As observed in previous studies, K-pop idols are known for their dedicated social media interactions with their global fans (Jin et al., 2021; Lee and Wei, 2021). These interactions that often involve real-time chats and conversations, including immediate fan-produced translations, are supported by Korean media industries’ cutting-edge technologies, such as metaverse technologies.

The geographic distance presents both challenges and opportunities for fan practices. The time lag in receiving information about K-pop and the relative lack of K-pop-related resources (e.g. official merchandise and K-pop concerts) in Peru restricts the fans’ access to the K-pop universe as they have to rely on English translations on many occasions. As Spanish translations of official K-pop social media do not exist or are slowly updated (a few minutes to a few days after the English versions), many fans in the present study also followed English translation channels and English accounts. Milka, a 28-year-old fan, stated:

We generally follow social media accounts in English because the translations [from Korean] are faster. For example, if they [the idols] do a Weverse [Korean mobile and web platform created by K-pop corporation Hybe] live, after one minute of them saying something, you already have the English translations uploaded to Twitter. But if it’s Spanish, they take longer because they have to translate from English first. Spanish accounts don’t translate directly from Korean. The account for TXT that I follow is in English, and I don’t think there are many Korean fans who are translating to Spanish.

Martina, the aforementioned 18-year-old student fan, commented on Latin fans’ situation in comparison with that of US and Korean fans:

First, you had everything in Korean, but now, there’s a lot of English. I mean, US fans and Korean fans don’t know what it’s like to still suffer and try to look for content that has subtitles in your language and try to understand what the idols are saying.

Due to such a time lag and mediation through US fan communities, which Jin et al. (2021) referred to as “secondhand translation,” some fans in the current study described being left behind Korean and US fans. However, the geocultural distance, which requires secondhand translation, can provide Peruvian fans with unique opportunities to explore their own strategies to engage with K-pop (Jin et al., 2021: 87). For example, most fans in the current study had K-pop key chains and photocards, many of which were not official, original merchandise but fan-made or secondhand products. Alberto, a 25-year-old BTS fan, said, “What’s interesting is that there’s a lot of merchandise here, but we don’t have any official stores like the US does.” Moreover, according to the Peruvian fans’ accounts, dance cover events and online/offline gatherings are frequent. In the absence of official means of acquiring K-pop merchandise, Latin fans in the present study actively engage in organized streaming parties and YouTube viewing while maintaining their imaginary affinity with idols through various forms of digital and social media.

The distance and time lag that Latin American fans experience may entail “non-reciprocal intimacy” between K-pop artists and Peruvian fans, which is negotiated and mediated via various social media (Min et al., 2019: 612). The distance and time lag allow Peruvian fans to explore their own participatory ways of consuming the cultural genre (Jin et al., 2021). Moreover, aware of their own marginal position in the transcultural mediascape of K-pop, the Peruvian fans were critical of the US-centered fan culture of global K-pop. The participatory translation and consumption of K-pop can be considered an important fan practice among the young Peruvians in the study. As Peru is geoculturally distant from South Korea, Peruvian fans of K-pop endeavor to negotiate the distance while catching up with up-to-date information about K-pop and being connected with other fans.

Transcultural connections with global fans

Fans’ interactions with other fans shape and define who fans are, but these interactions are not free of conflict and tension. As observed in recent fan studies, fan practices are not always progressive or liberating; rather, there are noticeably negative aspects, such as competition, harassment, and discrimination in “fractured fandoms” (Reinhard, 2018). Indeed, the Peruvian fans in the present study repeatedly spoke about various tensions and differences that exist within K-pop communities. Among others, the long-term Peruvian fans in the study identified two occasions on which they felt different from some groups of K-pop fans – other fans who included (a) the geocultural other (especially non-Latin fans) and (b) the generational other (newcomer fans who were relatively younger than the long-term fans who participated in the present study). In experiencing conflicts with these other fans, the participants became aware of their transcultural position.

First, global K-pop fandoms that seem highly united in supporting their favorite idols and K-pop in general comprise audience groups of different geocultural backgrounds. According to the participants, cultural differences between Latin, North American, and Korean fans have been noticeable in the context of controversies over K-pop idols’ socially inappropriate behaviors and wrongdoings. For example, when a K-pop idol has been accused of certain wrongdoings, such as cultural appropriation and racist comments, fans of different cultural backgrounds have seemed to respond differently. The Peruvian participants in the current study considered themselves relatively patient and supportive fans, whereas they portrayed other fans – Korean fans and North American fans – as judgmental and impatient, thus canceling the idol in question immediately. Several participants provided somewhat stereotypical descriptions of Korean fans as “intense,” American fans as “sensitive,” and Latin fans as “chill.”

Some fans were particularly critical of Korean and Asian fans for the strict code of conduct they apply to idols and for canceling idols who do not meet these particular standards. According to Leticia, “There are differences when fans react to controversial incidents. International fans let these incidents go if the idol has apologized, but Korean fans are often more intense.” Speaking of Korean fans’ harsh criticism of Mingyu, a member of K-pop group SEVENTEEN, due to allegations of bullying and sexual harassment, Leticia recalled that international fans – especially Latin fans – defended and supported the member rather than simply urging that he be canceled. Adrian, a 21-year-old student, noted, “Over [idols’ controversies about] pregnancies and dating, I would say that Korean fans are very closed off and very possessive. (. . .) I feel like Korean fans kind of want to gatekeep idols.” Antonio, a 22-year-old fan of Red Velvet, and a few other K-pop girl groups, was also critical of Korean fans’ high expectations of and standards to which they held their idols. He compared intense Korean fans with more “human” Peruvian fans: “Over here [Peru], we’re more. . . human. Like, we understand that they [K-pop artists] make mistakes.” He added, “I feel like Asian fans view them [K-pop artists] as ‘perfect’ people or some type of gods that can’t do anything wrong because, sometimes, they make one small mistake and that’s enough for Korean fans to get offended.”

Meanwhile, several participants pointed out that North American fans were highly sensitive in that some of them imposed high standards for political correctness and cultural appropriation. They talked about controversies over several K-pop artists’ appropriation of other cultural symbols and tropes and criticized North American fans’ self-righteous attitudes in K-pop communities. The above-mentioned Antonio commented on fans’ responses to K-pop’s cultural appropriation:

With American fans, more than anything, I feel like they want to be social justice warriors, and they tend to defend everything, despite not being part of the people or group that has been appropriated. For example, when Momoland’s music video for “BAAM” came out, one of the members was dressed as a Mexican with a sombrero, a beard, and a poncho. Other members were dressed as a mummy and Cleopatra. They [American fans] were like, “This is so offensive to Mexican and Egyptian people,” but the Mexican fans said, “No, actually, I found it funny that they dressed themselves like that.” Why are you offended over something that isn’t your culture? It’s not your conversation, it’s not your culture, so I don’t think you can have an opinion about this specifically.

Similar to Antonio, other participants evinced skepticism about North American fans’ efforts to evaluate cultural fusions observed in K-pop according to a particular Western standard. The fans were also concerned about the K-pop industry’s efforts to appeal to US markets and audiences. Leticia (25 years old) lamented, “People are saying that K-pop has too much pop because it wants to get into the American music market, and yes, it’s a big market, but now it’s like they’re trying to popularize the genre. Previously, K-pop was more versatile musically.” For Leticia, K-pop has been deeply incorporated into US-centric music markets, and newer fans might have contributed to accelerating this tendency.

Overall, in speaking of North American and Korean fans in the global K-pop fanscapes, the Peruvian fans in the current study were critical of how global K-pop fandoms were organized, defined, represented, and driven by highly dedicated Korean or US fans. They emphasized their “human” attitudes toward K-pop idols and distinguished themselves from the highly commercialized and regulating fan cultures, in their view, observed in the US and Korean fanscapes.

Second, the long-term fans – most participants in the present study – who grew up with the evolution of different generations of K-pop, considered themselves pioneering and dedicated fans who were distinct from newer fans who entered the K-pop fanscapes in the past few years. Most participants in the current study had been fans for over 5 years, with 12 of them having been fans for 10 or more years. These longtime fans were somewhat critical of newer fans’ fandom-oriented, organized activities. According to the long-term fans, newer fans, who are supposedly tech-savvy and younger, seek to support their idols by strategically pursuing such activities as streaming, buying, and voting for their idols’ entry into global charts. Alberto, the aforementioned 25-year-old teacher and dedicated fan of BTS, described his experience, admitting that there was a potentially exclusive and extreme atmosphere: “The experiences I’ve had as an ARMY [BTS fandom] have been positive, really, but I do think we’re very protective [laughs]. And, of course, every fandom has their way of supporting their idols, but sometimes, you get extremes.”

For the fans in their 20s and 30s in the present study, such intensive dedication and investment are not always feasible. They felt that, despite their long-term commitment and fan knowledge, they were increasingly marginalized in the highly organized fandom networks. According to the participants, some newer and younger members desperately seek the power to control global fan communities by imposing certain norms of ideal fan activities. While fan communities tend to have certain hierarchies and rules by which abundant online interactions and postings are regulated (Lynch, 2022), long-term fans in the current study felt uncomfortable about some power-seeking fans’ gatekeeping that they had recently observed. In particular, according to the participants’ accounts, the newer fans exploit digital and social media extensively to ensure their favorite K-pop idols’ global recognition and market success. Antonio, who had been a fan of the K-pop group Red Velvet for 7 years, expressed concern about a dominant trend that defined fan practices by particular behaviors:

A lot of recent fans say, “If you don’t vote or stream, you’re not a fan.” Like if your group doesn’t get a certain number of views or sales, they’re a failure. If a music video doesn’t have, like, 15 million views in a day, then for that group, the next day, they’re going to be called a failure. It’s become very competitive, that mindset of always being number one in everything, and in reality, that’s not what’s important. (. . .) Right now, the thing that all fans are obsessed with is getting the YouTube views, getting the sales, I mean from what I’ve seen on Twitter and from personal experience. More than anything, what’s important to me is that the music they release is interesting, innovative, and is something that they haven’t done before, which is what I think is the essence of Red Velvet.

From the participants’ perspective, recent fans are more enthusiastic about their favorite groups’ commercial success. Dario, a 25-year-old fan and professional dancer, critically commented on the commercialization of K-pop fan communities: “They [K-pop fandoms] judge how much of a fan you are based on how much merchandise you’ve purchased or how many of the groups’ events you’ve gone to.”

Moreover, according to the participants, power-seeking fans in global K-pop communities appear to exclude multi-fans, who follow several K-pop artists or belong to other K-pop groups’ fandoms. Adrian, the aforementioned 21-year-old student, commented on younger and newer fans – especially some fans of big K-pop groups:

I’ve definitely seen younger fans and their competitiveness with streaming in bigger fandoms, like TXT, BTS, or Blackpink. I would say that following and supporting one group is totally fine, but that doesn’t mean that you can put down other groups.

According to the participants and empirical studies (e.g. Choi and Cho, 2020), fans who identify with multi-fandoms – those who follow more than a couple of K-pop groups – tend to be disregarded by US and Korean fans as “fake fans.” However, according to the participants, being a multi-fandom fan is a rather common phenomenon among Latin fans, whose access to K-pop is relatively limited in terms of geocultural barriers. To engage with K-pop and its culture as much as possible, some Latin fans join and follow several K-pop fandoms. This way of appreciating and enjoying K-pop in response to their geocultural restrictions is a unique way for Latin fans to participate in the cultural genre. Laura, a 35-year-old K-pop fan since the late 2000s, has witnessed increasing extremeness in the communities:

They [some younger and newer fans] have gone too extreme, I think. They’ve attacked other groups on social media, I’ve seen that. I also don’t think they really respect the generational differences in K-pop. K-pop has been around for a while and it was the second generation that made it more well-known. I think nowadays there isn’t respect for different opinions.

Of course, Laura, like several other long-term fans, admitted that in hindsight, she used to be somewhat “extreme,” following particular K-pop idols’ every step and disregarding other fandoms. However, as time went on, the fans had become relatively reflective about fandom activities. Severe competition and tensions within some global K-pop fandoms may not be free of structural forces that exacerbate intense in-group emotional attachment and hostility to others. As Mercier (2022) pointed out, the K-pop industry’s valorization of highly emotionally engaged and devoted fans may contribute to a competitive culture intolerant of others. Moreover, as several participants in the current study noted, the development of digital and social media, which contribute to the fast access to and sharing of K-pop information, may exacerbate the increasingly extreme and exclusive aspects of global fan communities. Long-term K-pop fan Milka, the aforementioned 28-year-old fan, lamented, “Younger fans nowadays try to control what groups you should follow and, overall, are a bit more toxic.” While being critical of the “toxicity” of recent K-pop fandoms, she accused digital environments of exhibiting fans’ extreme and exclusive behaviors:

I have a theory about that [fandom toxicity]: I think it has to do with Twitter’s algorithm. Because, before, you would only see people you would follow on your timeline, but now, the algorithm shows you whatever tweet. Even before Elon Musk, the algorithm would show you hate tweets or people fighting, so having to look at that all the time and not being able to select what you want to see, even if you put filters on, is what makes that toxic part more visible. . . I even have, like, 3,000 people blocked [laughs] and even then, I still see these tweets.

According to Milka, K-pop fandoms are populated with younger fans who are deeply incorporated into social media’s algorithmic echo chambers. Like Milka, some longtime fans expressed concern about Internet-driven fan behaviors, through which like-minded people exclusively convene and reinforce their bias. Some fans in the study were cautious about voicing any view on social media as they had seen how “intense” some responses could be. Several participants even had specific anecdotes concerning other fans’ abuse via offensive online messages.

Overall, the Peruvian fans’ accounts reveal that global K-pop fans are not only united in supporting their idols but are increasingly diversified. Peruvian fans may utilize the transcultural media of K-pop in their own position. In comparison to, and in conflict with, geocultural others (i.e. non-Latin fans) and generational others (i.e. newer global fans), the Peruvian fans in the current study described themselves as more genuinely supportive and patient fans. Moreover, some long-term fans in the study were critical of some newer, tech-savvy K-pop fans’ exclusive, commercialized, and extreme behaviors and thus were departing from the fandoms while still remaining dedicated fans. In other words, they preferred to undertake fan practices in everyday contexts rather than dedicating their time to organized fandom activities, which focused on strategic streaming, buying, and voting for their idols’ entry into global charts.

Conclusion

These Peruvian fans’ accounts of their engagement with K-pop reveal how transcultural media are integrated into audiences’ everyday lives. As a globally emerging yet racialized cultural genre, K-pop offers Peruvian fans opportunities to realize their geocultural position through different connective practices – interactions with non-fans, identification with idols, and distinction from other (non-Latin or newer) fans. Peruvian fans’ engagement with K-pop, a non-hegemonic cultural genre in the global mediascape, reveals how transcultural flows are negotiated from below and by audiences. In Peru, not unlike in many other locations outside of Asia and South Korea, K-pop is still considered a minor, racialized cultural genre. By developing their dedication to K-pop, the Peruvian fans explore new cultural meanings. In particular, by identifying with K-pop idols, young Peruvian fans learn how to express their transcultural minor tastes and question dominant sociocultural norms. Furthermore, by interacting with other global fans, the Peruvian fans observe the power relations within K-pop’s global fanscapes. Some fans have become critically aware of the commercially driven and exclusive behaviors that prevail among newer fandoms. The conflictual interactions between global fans reveal that the imagined global K-pop fanscapes are not necessarily united but are often geoculturally divided. By challenging the contradictions observed in transcultural K-pop fandoms, such as control of the fandoms by particular groups and their narrow sense of fan activities, some Peruvian fans in the current study have departed from the fandoms while remaining fans who practice in their everyday contexts.

As confirmed by several existing audience studies of K-pop fans, K-pop has contributed to solidarity and bonding between overseas fans who are enthusiastic about the under-recognized foreign cultural genre (Cicchelli et al., 2023; McLaren and Jin, 2020; Min, 2021a). However, the long-term fans in the current study have also experienced complex power relations that have increasingly been observed in the global fanscapes. The fans’ awareness and negotiation of the power relations in global fandoms implies that globalization from below and contraflow may not directly facilitate alternative cultural practices but often involve negotiations and tensions between audiences in different positions.

The study contributes to the research of transcultural media audiences, which remains a nascent area of media studies (Athique, 2017). In particular, the study addresses global K-pop fans’ cultural practices to highlight two significant aspects of transnational cultural flows. First, the global waves of K-pop in numerous locations for the past two decades may reveal a new aspect of cultural globalization, which can be described as “contra” (Thussu, 2006), “recentered” (Iwabuchi, 2002), and/or “minor” (Lionnet and Shih, 2005). The global K-pop phenomenon may imply that non-Western-centric and cross-cultural exchanges become feasible with or without the involvement of Western gatekeepers. In particular, K-pop fandoms in Latin America can be regarded as media flows between subordinates that have been subservient to or otherwise emulate the hegemons in the global mediascape (Choi, 2015). Second, Peruvian K-pop fan practices show that transcultural media flows are not only driven by industrial and structural forces but are also redirected and even transformed by audience engagement. Undeniably, K-pop idols (and fans) are mobilized as core assets of the industry’s valorization process (Mercier, 2022). However, fan practices may involve diverse responses and cultural politics that are more complex (Choi and Cho, 2020) than the K-pop industry’s efforts to efficiently commodify their idols and fandoms (assets) and related intellectual properties (Jin et al., 2021). Peruvian fans’ media practices may show how transcultural media are recreated and resignified through what is referred to as bottom-up media experiences (Jenkins, 2006).

As shown in the present study, the evolution of K-pop fandoms over the past two decades reveals the possibilities and limitations of the global K-pop phenomenon. Fan audiences engage with their culturally distant fan objects through their own strategies and in interaction with other fans. In doing so, they may realize their identity in the global fanscapes while being aware of the power relations that operate between different audiences.