Glocalizing Andersen

Abstract This article explores how Andersen’s fairy tales are glocalized in the K-Dramas Secret Garden (2010–11) and It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020) to help characters transcend social and class boundaries, navigate personal traumas, and pursue mental healing. Utilizing a framework of glocalization and intercultural conceptual blending, the study argues that integrating Andersen’s tales with fairy tales and narrative forms from other traditions makes it possible to recontextualize fairy tale scripts and schemas and K-Drama tropes in ways that potentially challenge traditional norms, fostering positive representations of neurodiversity and mental health and promoting a shift toward a more inclusive society.