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Abstract

K‑pop has recently emerged as a global cultural phenomenon, giving rise to fan-driven initiatives known as ‘fanscapes’ (Kim, 2017). This study examines how fans, as active participants in the K‑pop fanscape, materialize visual resources to reinterpret and reframe artist identities. Through an analysis of fan-organized K‑pop cafés in Bangkok, it explores how visual objects mediate fans’ participatory image-making of K‑pop artists in public spaces through the framework of social semiotics (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1996). The findings reveal that fans employ visual semiotics, particularly color, gaze, typography, and materialized recontextualization, to construct and negotiate artists’ identities. While fans reinforce company-defined representations of artists, they also resemiotize and challenge these identities through visual objects. This study highlights fans’ growing agency in meaning-making, during which visual objects transform cafés into temporary socio-spatial semiotic landscapes where fans collectively construct identity and engage in co-production, actively shaping K‑pop’s narratives.

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2026-06-01
2026-06-16

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Visual semiotics, resemiotization, and shifting agency in the fanscapes of Thai K‑pop fan cafés
John Benjamins ; https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.25017.wu
/content/journals/10.1075/ll.25017.wu
/content/journals/10.1075/ll.25017.wu
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: fan café ; resemiotization ; fanscape ; visual semiotics ; fandom ; K‑pop

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