Ultimate bias. Memorabilia, K-pop and fandom identities

• Autor(a) principal: Guerra,Paula
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Sousa,Sofia
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://scielo.pt/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2182-30302021000300002
• topic: identities; fandom; memorabilia; K-pop; music; visual narratives.

Abstract This article puts forward a sustained approach in the perception of the processes of construction of - individual and collective - meanings and identities in relation to the musical (sub)genre K-pop. Thus, contrary to the logic that emphasizes the loss of relevance of the CD, we tried to demonstrate that - as an object of memorabilia and musical consumption - it remains alive within the K-pop culture. In fact, not only the CD, but also other memorabilia items that emphasize the creation of visual and identity narratives, in the sense that they are seen as a means to establish, maintain and cement a relationship with the idol. Thus, in parallel to the fact that K-pop, as a musical genre, has a global character, it also highlights individual, regional and local aspects, mainly due to the variety of products that are produced, following a personalisation logic at the same time as we are facing a mass selling process. Thus, through the use of a qualitative methodology (Guerra, 2021; Pink, 2020), we intend to analyze the memorabilia items of seven Portuguese K-pop fans, in order to perceive the processes of identity creation, but also to denote the symbologies and meanings that are built around the items.