Indonesian Muslim fans, racism and transcultural frictions in Kpop global fan communities

The main focus of this paper is to see how Indonesian Muslim fans navigate the race issues within the K-Pop global fandom. As Kpop is seen as the highlight and pinnacle of the rise of the Asian media industry, it is positioned to counter Western-centric globalization. The historical and cultural narratives of the Korean Wave create specific gender and race representations. The distinct infrastructure of K-idol culture/fandom cast significant influences on the dynamics of the global, multicultural fandom. As one of the biggest markets for K-Pop, Indonesia has a long history of racial and religious conflicts dating back to the colonial period. The legacy of such background may lead Muslim fans’ recognition of transcultural frictions materializing in gender and race issues in the global Kpop fandom to be uneven and fraught with conflicts. 

Following a group of Indonesian Muslim fans dealing with the issues of Black face and BLM, many Muslim fans do recognize the legacy of the racial tensions within K-Wave that challenge their sense of Muslim identity yet there are efforts to bridge the cultural gaps through converging on the benefit of mutual respect and recognition. While some fans contrarily would react in manners that are expected in the event of transcultural frictions (challenge, conform, distance, dismissive), it is important to look at the cultural references and narratives surrounding the practices to see how Indonesian Muslim fans reconcile their identities in the process.