From webnovel to k-drama trough the OSMU strategy: the case of Touch Your Heart

The Korean Wave resonance had an increasing and deeper impact on the international public in these last years due to the pandemic situation and the increase of availability on the internet platform sites. Above all Korean Dramas but also Webtoons have a continuing growth of viewers and readers. Indeed, a great number of K-Dramas were adapted from famous Webtoons through the OSMU (One Source Multi-Use) strategy. Yet several of these Webtoons were adaptations themselves of notorious Web Sosŏl, or Webnovel: novels serialized on specifically designated platforms on the Internet. Through a narrative and semiotic analysis of the Webnovel ‘Reach of Sincerity’ (‘진심이 닿다’, 2016-2017) and its K-Drama adaptation ‘Touch Your heart’ (2019), we will study: 1) the different characters’ portrayals in the Webnovel and in the Drama; 2) the main narration alteration, what is added and what is cut from the original story; 3) the change of focus from one topic to another. In conclusion, we will inquire how Webnovel storytelling is adapted and changed to appease a different kind of public: viewers, not readers.