Skip to content
1981
image of Is that your kei or my K? Bodily performance of fandom in visual kei and K-pop dance parties in Santiago, Chile

Abstract

Visual kei, a Japanese rock subgenre, and K-pop have been the two most visible East Asian music fandoms in Chile since the 2000s and a critical element of the expansion of East Asian popular culture in the country. This article examines how fans of both genres have come to perform their fandom through bodily strategies within the setting of visual kei and K-pop dance parties held in Santiago, Chile. We understand identity as a performance and the dance floor as a prime site to display fandom adherence and build identities via in-person interactions. Through literature review and direct observation conducted over twelve months, this article establishes that Chilean visual kei fans perform fandom through sartorial choices. However, K-pop fans perform their fandom through imitation and repetition of dance moves. We argue that the differences in fandom strategies arise from the availability of identification models within Chilean society and the expectations set by visual kei and K-pop as genres.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/eapc_00151_1
2025-02-28
2025-04-26
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Barrueto Prieto, Camila Francisca (2018), ‘K-pop covers: Alas de identidad’, Tiempo Real – Periodismo UDEC, 31 August, https://tiemporeal.periodismoudec.cl/2018/08/31/k-pop-covers-alas-de-identidad/. Accessed 28 October 2024.
  2. Bauman, Zygmunt (2009), ‘Identity in a globalizing world’, in A. Elliott and P. du Gay (eds), Identity in Question, London: Sage Publications, pp. 112.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Bergman, Anya (2009), ‘Un juego de identidad y percepción: Un estudio de caso de “visuales”, una tribu urbana en Viña del Mar, Chile’, Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection, vol. 175, Spring, https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/715. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Chen, Steven (2019), ‘Internationalising cultural products: The Ouroboros strategy and the case of visual kei’, Journal of Marketing Management, 35:13–14, pp. 121440, https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1080/0267257x.2019.1651754.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Collao Kehr, Francisca Almendra and Rivera Oyanadel, Mónica Alessandra (2015), ‘Chilenos adoptando Asia: Corea del Sur y Japón’, BA thesis, Santiago: University of Chile, http://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/135736. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Cruz Giraldo, Juan (2020), ‘Exiliados del GAM: Los kpopers tras el estallido’, The Clinic, 8 January, https://www.theclinic.cl/2020/01/08/exiliados-del-gam-los-kpopers-tras-el-estallido/. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Durán Escobar, Sergio (2012), Ríe Cuando Todos Estén Tristes: El Entretenimiento Televisivo Bajo La Dictadura de Pinochet, Santiago de Chile: LOM Ediciones.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Donoso Espejo, María Paz (2013), ‘Videomúsica oriental en Chile: un metarrelato de contradicciones, Japón y Corea al límite’, BA thesis, Santiago: University of Chile, http://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/132763. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Emol (2012), ‘Grupo coreano despacha 1.500 entradas y destapa el fenómeno del K-Pop en Chile’, El Mercurio Online, 9 January, https://www.emol.com/noticias/magazine/2012/01/09/520789/grupo-coreano-despacha-1500-entradas-y-destapa-el-fenomeno-del-k-pop-en-chile.html. Accessed 28 October 2024.
  10. Finan, Dorothy (2020), ‘Interrogating the global success of J-pop and K-pop idols’, East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, 6:2, pp. 15975, https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1386/eapc_00023_1.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Goffman, Erving (1969), The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Dublin: Penguin Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Han, Benjamin (2017), ‘K-pop in Latin America: Transcultural fandom and digital mediation’, International Journal of Communication, 11, pp. 225069, https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/6304/2048. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Herrera Carrasco, Jacqueline (2013), ‘Cuerpos “orientalizados”: tribus urbanas y el habitar visual del malestar’, BA thesis, Santiago: University of Chile, http://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/112795. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Heufemann, Vanessa (2008), ‘Llega a Chile grupo favorito de las tribus urbanas denominadas Visuals’, La Tercera, 28 April, https://www.latercera.com/noticia/llega-a-chile-grupo-favorito-de-las-tribus-urbanas-denominadas-visuals/. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Inoue, Takako (2003), ‘Constructing male aesthetics in rock and makeup: Gender strategies by musicians and fans of visual rock in Japan’, in Y. Hayame, A. Tanaba and Y. Tokita-Tanabe (eds), Gender and Modernity: Perspectives from Asia and the Pacific, Portland, OR: Trans Pacific Press, pp. 189217.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Ipsos Public Affairs (2016), Informe Final: Séptima Encuesta de Acceso, Usos y Usuarios de Internet, Santiago: Gobierno de Chile, Secretaría de Telecomunicaciones, https://www.subtel.gob.cl/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Informe-VII-Encuesta-de-Acceso-Usos-y-Usuarios-de-Internet_VF.pdf. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Johnson, Adrienne Renee (2019), ‘From Shōjo to Bangya(ru): Women and visual Kei’, in J. Berndt, K. Nagaike and F. Ogi (eds), Shōjo across Media, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 30329.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Kashiwagi,  Yasunori (柏木恭典) (2011), ‘Poppu karuchā toshite no vijuaru kei no rekishi’, Chiba Keizai Daigaku Tanki Daigaku-Bu Kenkyū Kiyō, 7, pp. 89100.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Kim, Bok-rae (2015), ‘Past, present and future of Hallyu (Korean wave)’, American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 5:5, pp. 15460, https://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/Vol_5_No_5_October_2015/19.pdf. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Koeltzsch, Grit Kirstin (2019a), ‘Korean popular culture in Argentina’, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, Oxford University Press, 28 August, https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.766. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Koeltzsch, Grit Kirstin (2019b), ‘Performance asiática moderna en cuerpos latinos: La cultura K-pop en el Noroeste Argentino’, in G. K. Koeltzsch and R. de Lima Silva (eds), Performances Culturales En América Latina: Estudios de Lo Popular, Género y Arte, Buenos Aires: Purmamarka Ediciones, pp. 73100.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Koeltzsch, Grit Kirstin (2023), ‘Bodily articulation through K-pop in Latin America: Audiovisual narratives, aesthetics, and creative reproduction’, Youth and Globalization, 4:2, pp. 195221, https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1163/25895745-04020011.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Labarca, Stephano (2021), ‘Encarnar el discurso: los usos del cuerpo en los jóvenes visual kei chilenos (1999–2012)’, in V. E. Rodríguez, J. Marín López and B. Vega Pichaco (eds), En/Desde/Hacia Las Américas: Migraciones Musicales, Madrid: Dykinson, pp. 199216.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Lim, Alwyn (2004), ‘Crime and visual shock: Japanese rock subculture’, in R. B. Tolentino, J. H. Ong and A. Y. Hing (eds), Transglobal Economies and Cultures: Contemporary Japan and Southeast Asia, Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, pp. 22548.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Macchi, Florencia and Pablo, Alejandra (2014), ‘A-POP: Una aproximación hacia la comunidad de música popular asiática que convive en los espacios de GAM’, Final Workshop, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, 7 July, https://www.gam.cl/documents/120/comunidad-a-pop-una-aproximacic3b3n-hacia-la-comunidad-de-mc3basica-popul_rGcpHGZ.pdf. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Madrid-Morales, Dani and Lovric, Bruno (2015), ‘“Transatlantic connection”: K-pop and K-drama fandom in Spain and Latin America’, Journal of Fandom Studies, 3:1, pp. 2341, https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1386/jfs.3.1.23_1.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Matus Madrid, Christian (2000), ‘Tribus urbanas: entre ritos y consumos. El caso de la discoteque Blondie’, Ultima Década, 8:13, pp. 97120, https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.4067/s0718-22362000000200006.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Matus Madrid, Cristian (2001), ‘De la Blondie a Bellavista: dos aproximaciones a los rituales del consumo juvenil nocturno’, Polis: Revista de La Universidad Bolivariana, 1:2, pp. 119, http://journals.openedition.org/polis/7864. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Min, Wonjung (2020), ‘Mis chinos, tus chinos: The orientalism of Chilean K-pop fans’, The International Communication Gazette, 83:8, pp. 799817, https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1177/1748048520928254.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Min, Wonjung (2021), ‘The perfect man: The ideal imaginary beauty of K-pop idols for Chilean fans’, Seoul Journal of Korean Studies, 34:1, pp. 15994, https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1353/seo.2021.0006.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Min, Wonjung, Jin, Dal Yong and Han, Benjamin (2019), ‘Transcultural fandom of the Korean wave in Latin America: Through the lens of cultural intimacy and affinity space’, Media, Culture & Society, 41:5, pp. 60419, https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1177/0163443718799403.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Ocampo Cea, Andrea (2009), Ciertos Ruidos: Nuevas Tribus Urbanas Chilenas, Santiago: Planeta.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Oh, Chuyun (2022), K-Pop Dance: Fandoming Yourself on Social Media, London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Paparone, Florencia (2023), ‘K-Pop y sensibilidades juveniles: una reflexión teórico-conceptual desde una sociología de los cuerpos y las emociones’, Revista Intersticios, 17:1, pp. 3157, https://intersticios.es/article/view/23361. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Peter, Beate (2015), ‘Beyond capital, towards myth: EDM fandom and dance practice’, in M. Duffett (ed.), Popular Music Fandom: Identities, Roles and Practices, London: Routledge, pp. 3754.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Rapoport, Tamar (2020), ‘An analytical framework for investigating fandom’, in T. Rapoport (ed.), Doing Fandom: Lessons from Football in Gender, Emotions, Space, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 129.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Rehbein Caerols, Consuelo (2022), ‘Dragon Ball cumple 25 años en Chile: esta es parte de la historia de Gokú en el país’, Fayer Wayer, 7 April, https://www.fayerwayer.com/entretenimiento/2022/04/07/dragon-ball-cumple-25-anos-en-chile-esta-es-parte-de-la-historia-de-goku-en-el-pais/. Accessed 28 October 2024.
  38. Reyes-Navarro, Javiera (2021), ‘Creating Chilean identities to the rhythm of Japanese rock: A study of Santiago de Chile’s Visual Kei fandom as subculture’, doctoral thesis, Barcelona: Autonomous University of Barcelona, http://hdl.handle.net/10803/672025. Accessed 28 October 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Smith, Jacob (2006), ‘Digital dance hall: The fan culture of dance simulation arcade games’, in K. O’Hara and B. Brown (eds), Consuming Music Together: Social and Collaborative Aspects of Music Consumption Technologies, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 193209.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Thornton, Sarah (1995), Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital, Cambridge: Polity Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Winge, Therèsa M. (2017), ‘Tokyo subcultural street styles: Japanese subcultural street style as a uniform’, East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, 3:1, pp. 721, https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1386/eapc.3.1.7_1.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/eapc_00151_1
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test