Courtney McLaren (Independent Researcher, Korea)
Abstract
In today’s ever-increasingly interconnected world, intercultural/cosmopolitan competencies are of greater and greater importance to many fields of inquiry. In particular, the cross-border spread of cultural objects—and the fandoms that emerge around them—present the opportunity to examine the extent to which such enjoyment of non-local popular culture fosters cosmopolitan awareness amongst fans of various non-local cultural objects. Focusing on K-pop fans in Canada, I employed transcultural fandom theory and hybridization to examine K-pop fans’ awareness and understanding of Korean (popular) culture. Through thematic analysis informed by grounded theory and inductive methodologies, I will show how K-pop fandom belonging shaped fans’ awareness of cultural differences and how this awareness informed various forms of cosmopolitan reflexivity on the part of fans in their enjoyment of K-pop and Korean popular culture. These understandings complement and inform how intercultural and cosmopolitan awareness can occur inside and outside the classroom.
Research Paper (In person; 25 minutes)
Culture & Cross-/Intercultural Perspectives
General Interest
About the Presenter
Courtney McLaren has been living and teaching in South Korea since 2021. She holds a bachelor’s in sociology from Mount Allison University and a Masters of Communication from Simon Fraser University. Her current research interests include transcultural/cosmopolitan fan practices, parasocial labor, and cosmopolitan literacies in the ESL classroom.
