Virtualizing the 'Korean Wave' : the politics of (transnational) cyberfandom in

Cyberfandom of soap operas has been an emerging (transnational) cultural practice, yet little has been researched into it. This paper examines how fans use cyberspace as fan space: for information, reflection, fantasizing, remembering, and criticizing. It also demonstrates how different levels and aspects of hierarchies operates in these ‘virtual’ fan communities, contrary to the commonly held conceptions of equality and democracy that the cyberspace prescribes. By using the case of 〈Daejanggeum〉, the paper argues how avid netizens exert strict governmental structures to regulate fan behaviour on the web. On the other hand, it examines how politics are manifest across cultural borders in the seemingly ‘borderless’ cyberspace.