Beyond belonging: A conversation on inauthenticity, third-culture kids, and fandom

This conversational essay brings together Lori Morimoto, Haerin Shin, and Sangita Shresthova in an exploration of inauthenticity, cultural liminality, and the generative tensions of transcultural fandom. Moving across personal narratives and scholarly reflection, this dialogue situates fandom as a contact zone shaped by asymmetrical power relations, affective attachments, and performative negotiations of identity. Drawing on the framework of the “third culture kid,” the authors discuss how experiences of dislocation and “passing” disrupt fixed notions of cultural belonging. Rather than viewing inauthenticity as a deficit, the conversation reimagines it as a productive and necessary condition for understanding transcultural engagements. From Bollywood dance and speculative fiction to K-pop, the authors propose that the unstable, often contradictory experiences of fandom might hold the key to rethinking authenticity, ownership, and cultural intimacy in the times with globalized media flows.