Abstract

This paper examines the formation of the fandom surrounding the web novel Return of the Blossoming Blade and its performative practices through the lens of gender politics. Focusing on the martial arts genre, traditionally understood as male-oriented, the study explores how female readers form communities of taste and reconfigure genre discourse through textual interpretation and secondary creative practices. Drawing on discourse analysis of online communities such as Twitter, DC Inside, and Women’s Generation, as well as fan-produced works including fan fiction, the paper demonstrates how the fandom develops a distinctive interpretive framework centered on character analysis and narrative re-signification. Particular attention is given to the Naver boycott period, during which fans mobilized the text’s core value of hyeop as an ethical and political principle guiding collective action. Rather than suspending cultural engagement, fans sustained and expanded their practices through secondary creation and unofficial fan-organized events. These practices position the fandom as a performative subject that actively re-signifies the text and disrupts male- and heteronormative conventions embedded in the genre. By foregrounding fandom as a site of ethical and political practice, this study highlights the political and performative dimensions of fan engagement in contemporary web novel cultures.