K-Pop’s Transformative Potential? Performativity and Belonging in Global Fandom

This talk zooms in on the ways transnational fans have engaged with K-pop and asks what transformative potentials have been harnessed and amplified through their fan engagements

Location: Lecture Theatre 1, School of Music, University of Leeds, 12 Cavendish Road, LS2 9JT

Registration: This is a free event, but please register via Eventbrite to reserve your space. Get your tickets here!

K-pop’s identity as a local pop with a global reach and as a hypercapitalist industry entwined with alternative youth cultures makes it a fascinating case of contemporary popular culture. This talk zooms in on the ways transnational fans have engaged with K-pop and asks what transformative potentials have been harnessed and amplified through their fan engagements. Through the concepts of performativity and diaspora, this talk suggests that K-pop has created generative and playful sites in which young fans across borders re-imagine and act on new identities and communities. 

 About the Speaker:

Dr. Hannah Hyun Kyong Chang is a Lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Sheffield. She is a music historian of modern and transnational Korea. Her research interests span art, vernacular, and popular music and their relationship with the shifting dynamics of globalisation across the twentieth century. 

We look forward to your participation!