Visual semiotics, resemiotization, and shifting agency in the fanscapes of Thai K‐pop fan cafés

Bibliographic Data

ID19487372
AuthorsAthit Wu (Chulalongkorn University), A H Wu (Chulalongkorn University), Pavadee Saisuwan (0009-0005-0488-2607, Chulalongkorn University)
Year2026
Publication date2026-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLinguistic Landscape An international journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2214-9953 • E-ISSN: 2214-9961
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/ll.25017.wu
OpenAlexW7163026778
LanguageEN
References cited44

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

Agency (philosophy) · Citizen journalism · Cognitive reframing · Construct (python library) · Identity (music) · Negotiation · Semiotics · Visual research · Visual semiotics · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Music History and Culture · Social and Cultural Dynamics

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