From Affective Placemaking to Fandom Activism - A Reinterpretation of Contents Tourism in the Context of K-Drama Fandom

Aug 20, 2026

This study reconceptualizes contents tourism as a cyclical structure of affective practices rather than simple consumption or sightseeing. Centered on an “affective practice loop,” the framework links emotional invocation, spatial performativity, and digital narrativization. It explains how fans respond affectively to media narratives, project emotions onto places, and digitally retell these experiences, co-constructing personal identity and cultural space. Using the 2024 K-drama Lovely Runner, the study examines field-level fan engagement and reinterprets fandom practices as fandom activism enabled through affective expansion, while theorizing interrelated dynamics among these dimensions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages27

Reading Time1 h 8 min

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Abstract

About the Authors

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Introduction

Jo & Choi / From Affective Placemaking to Fandom Activism 311 FROM AFFECTIVE PLACEMAKING TO FANDOM ACTIVISM A Reinterpretation Of Contents Tourism in the Context Of K-Drama Fandom Hanki Jo Kyung Hee University [johanki@khu.ac.kr](johanki@khu.ac.kr) Areum Choi Kyung Hee University [cm_130807@khu.ac.kr](cm_130807@khu.ac.kr) Abstract This study reconceptualizes contents tourism not as simple consumption or sightseeing but asa cyclical structure of affective practices—an “affective practice loop”—comprising emotional invocation, spatial performativity, and digital narrativization. This analytical framework explains how fans respond affectively to media narratives, project emotions performativelyonto places, and digitally narrativize these experiences, thereby co-constructing personal identity and cultural space. Using the 2024 Korean drama Lovely Runner as a case study, this study shows how this loop is enacted through field-level fan engagement in contents tourism. It further reinterprets fandom practices along this sequence, not as mere media consumption but as fandom activism reconfigured through affective expansion. Finally, the study theorizes the interrelated dynamics among these three dimensions, which remain underexamined in existing contents tourism scholarship. Keywords contents tourism, digital narrativization, fandom activism, K-drama fandom, Lovely Runner About the Authors Hanki Jo is a Research Professor at the K-Culture and Story Contents Research Institute, Kyung Hee University, where he also teaches in the College of Humanities. He earned his PhD in Digital Culture and Contents from Konkuk University. His research focuses on storytelling and cultural narratives in film, webtoon, and digital media within the framework of contemporary Kritika Kultura 49 (2026): 311–337 © Ateneo de Manila University < [https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk](https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk) > Jo & Choi / From Affective Placemaking to Fandom Activism 312 Korean popular culture. Drawing on cultural and narrative theory, he examines affective publics, fandom practices, and transmedia storytelling in Hallyu. He is also active as a film and comics critic, engaging with the aesthetic and cultural dimensions of Korean visual narratives. Areum Choi is a Research Professor at the K-Culture and Story Contents Research Institute, Kyung Hee University, where she also teaches in the College of Humanities. She earned her PhD in Digital Culture and Contents from Konkuk University. Her research focuses on regional cultural contents, spatial narratives, and contents tourism. She has explored the utilization of regional cultural heritage, the musealization of place memory, dark literary tourism, and local dramas. Recently, her work has examined the spatial and regional narratives of K-Contents, paying particular attention to how fandom activism and affective engagement evolve into forms of contents tourism. Through these studies, she seeks to understand how cultural heritage, storytelling, and fan practices interact across local and global contexts, shaping new placebased cultural experiences and fostering the circulation of glocal contents. Funding Information This work was supported by the Fostering a New Wave ofK-Academics Program of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the Korean Studies Promotion Service (KSPS) at the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2021-KDA-1250004). Kritika Kultura 49 (2026): 312–337 © Ateneo de Manila University < [https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk](https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk) > Jo & Choi / From Affective Placemaking to Fandom Activism 313 INTRODUCTION Since the early twenty-first century, the global expansion of Hallyu (the Korean Wave) has evolved beyond mere content consumption, developing into an affective flow that encompasses emotional immersion and cultural practices through fandoms. Among Hallyu content, Korean dramas (K-dramas) have emerged as a prominent genre

FAQs

What does the study redefine as “contents tourism”?

Contents tourism is redefined as a cyclical process of affective practices, structured as an affective practice loop rather than only consumption or sightseeing.

What are the three components of the “affective practice loop”?

The loop consists of emotional invocation, spatial performativity, and digital narrativization that together organize fans’ engagement with media and places.

How is Lovely Runner used in the research?

Lovely Runner (a 2024 K-drama) is used as a case study to show how the affective practice loop is enacted through fans’ field-level engagement in contents tourism.

Aug 20, 2026

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