Handbook

The unit critically examines the recent popularity of Korean popular culture in East Asia and beyond. The focus is on South Korean pop music, gaming culture and TV dramas. However, we will also be considering North and South Korean graphic novels and cinema. The unit also situates the recent Hallyu (Korean Wave) phenomenon within the history of cultural flows in East Asia and we examine the processes that have contributed to the increased consumption of Korean cultural product inside and outside the Korean peninsula. One primary focus will be on the analysis of critical approaches to the understanding of North Korean state media and South Korean commercial cultural output. In particular, we analyse how state-centered promotion policies are tied up with notions of cultural nationalism. The aim is to move beyond fandom and to encourage you to situate the production of popular culture within the domestic and regional political, economic, commercial and industrial contexts and to critically analyse popular culture using a variety of methodological approaches. Each week you will be introduced to different methodological frameworks you can utilize to unpack popular culture. In your readings, you will also be exposed to a variety of approaches to the analysis of popular culture case studies.