Exploring the Connection between Idol Studies and Tourism Studies

Mobilities of a Space

Abstract

This study aimed to understand popular culture in modern society via the “mobilities paradigm.” The study assessed the issues associated with idols/fans as presented in the literature and examined in detail the point of contact between idol and tourism studies by identifying trends of fan tourism research. These trends focus on the physical movement of fans and have been garnering increasing attention recently. Further, the study analyzed a K-pop audition program entitled Boys Planet as a space for transnational fan practice in which mass media, social media, and on-site scenarios influence one another on multiple levels. This transnational space was studied against the background of the progress of globalization and the spread of social media. Thus, we investigated the possibility of reconsidering conventional idol studies and modern fan practices from the perspective of movement in space. The framework of this study used spatial concepts developed on the basis of tourism phenomena, including real, fictional, and information spaces.
Analysis of the interactions of the production staff and fans through their movement in these three spaces revealed that the staff and fans are occasionally complicit with one another while overriding the existing active/passive, producer/consumer, and professional/amateur dichotomy. Moreover, despite occasional conflicts between these two groups, the study noted the emergence of “fandom,” a recurrent or continuous practice performed cooperatively by fan groups.