Popular culture in North and South Korea: K-Culture to the world

In this unit you will critically examine the recent global popularity of Korean popular culture thanks to the rise of social media and OTT platforms like NETFLIX. The focus is on South Korean pop music, TV dramas, webtoons, fandom, food and K-beauty products. However, we will also be considering North and South Korean graphic novels and cinema. You will investigate how K-culture has become a global phenomenon spread thanks in part to proactive governmental policy and the global rise of OTT (Over the Top) platforms and fan-led social media networks. You will also 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, you will 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.