Fandom activities gained increasing visibility during the 1980s and 1990s, fueled by the growing prominence of popular culture. This visibility has been further amplified since the 2010s by the rapid advancement of digital technology and the evolving media landscape. Generally, fandom is regarded as a positive force in the global music industry, and the K-pop phenomenon is often cited as a prime example-its global expansion largely attributed to the fervent support of dedicated fans. It remains questionable though whether fandom activism has advanced the music industry without generating adverse effects. As fandoms have transitioned from passive consumers to active prosumers, there is a growing need to examine their influence through economic and industrial lenses. This paper addresses this concern by analyzing K-pop fandoms' collective behaviors-particularly their efforts to manipulate album sales and music chart rankings in support of their favorite idol groups. It argues that such activities have evolved into a form of market distortion that threatens the long-term sustainability of the K-pop industry. Two central concerns emerge. First, a fundamental confusion between popularity and loyalty underlies much of this behavior, leading fandoms to unintentionally constrain their idols' broader appeal. Second, excessive fandom-driven manipulation of market indicators distorts perceptions of music trends, undermining meaningful competition and innovation. These dynamics highlight the urgent need to foster healthier and more measured fan cultures. In this context, artists and entertainment agencies must engage collaboratively with fan communities to cultivate a more sustainable and balanced popular music ecosystem.
This article explores the life and work of Mathilde Raclot, a French Catholic nun who became the first missionary foundress in British Malaya. Catholic nuns were obligated to adhere to stringent canon laws, which mandated them to lead a secluded life immediately upon taking their solemn vows. When Raclot was called to serve in Malaya, embarking on a journey of geographical transitions from European to Asian waterways brought her out of seclusion. We analyze Raclot's journey to British Malaya by incorporating the concepts of heterogeneous frontiers from the perspective of a female French missionary to unearth gendered perspectives of French mission and development in Malaya. Segmenting her odyssey into seven frontiers, we explore the internal variations between territories as they unfold across personal, religious, and cultural frontiers. By foregrounding these diverse interior frontiers, we seek to deepen the comprehension of female missionary dynamics in the colonial contact zone.
The transformation of fandom in the age of digital media and hyperconnectivity calls for renewed scholarly attention. Earlier studies of participatory culture highlighted the role of the "prosumer," who blurs the boundary between production and consumption. This special section shifts the focus to the concept of the "fansumer," which captures a more specific mode of engagement in which emotionally invested fans mobilize coordinated consumption and activities to shape cultural visibility, influence market outcomes, and practice fandom activism. Fans also actively generate new cultural forms and position themselves as agents of communication, thereby amplifying the dynamism of the global popular culture scene. These practices are enabled by the condition of "Homo Connectus," a persistently networked subject whose everyday communication, cognition, and cultural participation are deeply embedded within digital platforms and algorithmically structured environments. Within such ecosystems, fans operate both individually and collectively as interconnected nodes that circulate meanings, values, and cultural symbols. The global rise of Hallyu (Korean Wave) provides a particularly vivid illustration of this transformation, as K-fandom communities have redefined what it means to participate in fandom in the digital era. This special section of Kritika Kultura, "Homo Connectus and Fandom Activism: Fansumers as Cultural Transmitters," brings together nine contributions that collectively demonstrate how fandom operates as a vital cultural force, capable of reshaping aesthetics, markets, politics, and social identities. Together, these contributions highlight how fandom is a site of both empowerment and contradiction, capable of generating hybrid cultures, feminist imaginations, and political solidarities, while also producing tensions such as market distortion and algorithmic co-optation.
This study investigates how Ethical Literary Criticism-a Chinese-originated theoretical paradigm developed by Nie Zhenzhao-has been transmitted to, localized within, and advanced by the Malaysian scholarly community. Drawing on archival research, bibliometric surveying, and close reading, the article first reconstructs a multi-layered network of transmission pathways that includes returning Malaysian post-graduates from Chinese universities, the importation of foundational Ethical Literary Criticism texts, sustained coverage in bi-lingual academic journals, and participation in international conferences such as those organized by the International Association for Ethical Literary Criticism. It then analyzes the reception of Ethical Literary Criticism in Malaysia, showing how scholars adapt core concepts like "ethical selection," the "Sphinx factor," and "ethical taboo" to the country's multicultural and multi-religious context, often in dialogue with post-colonial and cultural studies frameworks. Through an in-depth case study of Florence Kuek's pioneering work on Han Suyin's six-volume autobiographical series, the research demonstrates how Ethical Literary Criticism has evolved from theoretical importation to sophisticated localized practice. Kuek's innovative contributions include the introduction of legitimacy/illegitimacy binary concepts and the consciousness spiral framework, which expand Ethical Literary Criticism's analytical vocabulary and demonstrate its cross-cultural applicability. The analysis reveals how Ethical Literary Criticism provides unique insights into ethical identity construction, moral choice-making, and the relationship between individual consciousness and historical circumstances. This study contributes to understanding how Chinese literary theory can be successfully adapted and developed within Southeast Asian academic contexts while maintaining theoretical rigor and cultural sensitivity.
This study reconceptualizes global Hallyu fandom as a form of Post-Creator, where fans operate as cultural agents who reorganize affective structures and ethical codes within the algorithmic and economic conditions of platform capitalism. Drawing on Nicolas Bourriaud's concept of postproduction and Kang Sumi's formulation of the post-creator, this study positions fan practices as participatory or remixed acts while at the same time highlighting their role as politically and aesthetically significant interventions that reshape the meaning and circulation of cultural texts. Methodologically, this study conducts a comparative analysis of digital fan activities, including stage mixes, fan-subtitled translations, reaction videos, and performance-based challenges across platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and X. Particular attention is paid to how localized practices in regions such as Southeast Asia and Latin America reflect distinct ethical and affective logics. The study further argues that these fan interventions represent strategic responses to the platform infrastructure, rather than isolated creative gestures, and that they embody a new mode of cultural authorship in the digital age. In doing so, it contributes to broader discussions on affective labor, platform governance, and the reconfiguration of cultural authority in transnational fandoms.
