RESEARCH/ PROJECT 1.3
TRANSFORMATION OF THE KOREAN WAVE
The project deals with the domestic and international reception of Korean popular culture focusing on the representation of women in Korean cinema and K-pop fandom in Africa. The focus of this research is an in-depth analysis of Korean cultural products in the context of digitalization and globalization.
As South Korean digital cultural goods are globally released and consumed, more attention has been paid to cultural actors such as the global or domestic consumers/users of audio-visual products and internet journalism. The Korean popular music part explores the proactive reception of K-Pop by South African fandom and the fans’ engagement with the transnational popular cultural flow. Local interpretation and appropriation of K-Pop in South Africa will be the focus.
The Korean cinema section investigates how cultural products reflect the social discourses of their country of origin, how these discourses are relevant to their reception within domestic audiences and how their messages adapt to South Korea’s ever-growing international audiences. The argument is that cultural products are essential to strengthening South Korea’s international image and have successfully been utilized to craft this image. Furthermore, the following three themes will be explored: a deeper understanding of cultural entrepreneurs and the mechanisms behind this process and a critical evaluation of the contents of the discourses presented in the resulting cultural products.
How do these cultural products reflect the social discourses of their country of origin and who are the relevant actors who influence them? Has the globalization of Korean cultural products created a diversification in the depiction of certain topics? How is K-pop music interpreted and appropriated locally by South African K-pop fan groups? How do the global K-pop fans themselves influence the expansion and development of Korean cultural products on a global level?
As South Korean digital cultural goods are globally released and consumed, more attention has been paid to cultural actors such as the global or domestic consumers/users of audio-visual products and internet journalism. The Korean popular music part explores the proactive reception of K-Pop by South African fandom and the fans’ engagement with the transnational popular cultural flow. Local interpretation and appropriation of K-Pop in South Africa will be the focus.
The Korean cinema section investigates how cultural products reflect the social discourses of their country of origin, how these discourses are relevant to their reception within domestic audiences and how their messages adapt to South Korea’s ever-growing international audiences. The argument is that cultural products are essential to strengthening South Korea’s international image and have successfully been utilized to craft this image. Furthermore, the following three themes will be explored: a deeper understanding of cultural entrepreneurs and the mechanisms behind this process and a critical evaluation of the contents of the discourses presented in the resulting cultural products.
How do these cultural products reflect the social discourses of their country of origin and who are the relevant actors who influence them? Has the globalization of Korean cultural products created a diversification in the depiction of certain topics? How is K-pop music interpreted and appropriated locally by South African K-pop fan groups? How do the global K-pop fans themselves influence the expansion and development of Korean cultural products on a global level?
RESEARCH METHODS
The project is based on a combination of film analysis, digital and on-site ethnography, in-depth interviews through fieldwork in South Korea and South Africa.
The analysis of films and fandom as well as the social, cultural, historic and gender context in which they were created, will provide an insight into the discourses represented in them on the topic of female depiction in South Korean cinema and K-pop fandom.
The analysis of films and fandom as well as the social, cultural, historic and gender context in which they were created, will provide an insight into the discourses represented in them on the topic of female depiction in South Korean cinema and K-pop fandom.