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The Critique of Hallyu, or K-Entertainment as a Gendered Meta-narrative—Focusing on Female Fans, Girl Groups, and Young Women

  • Journal of Popular Narrative
  • 2020, 26(2), pp.9-37
  • DOI : 10.18856/jpn.2020.26.2.001
  • Publisher : The Association of Popular Narrative
  • Research Area : Interdisciplinary Studies > Interdisciplinary Research
  • Received : April 10, 2020
  • Accepted : May 15, 2020
  • Published : May 30, 2020

Jinhee Ryu 1

1원광대학교 한중관계연구원

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The present study examines the transnational “Hallyu” (the Korean wave) phenomenon after the 1990s in the context of a solidarity movement of East Asian women. It also focuses on the passion for the world stage given the cultural industry was supported by the government as a “chimney-less factory” during the IMF financial crisis. Over the past twenty years and through Hallyu 1.0, Hallyu 2.0, and Hallyu 3.0, “K-entertainment” has been advocated, as a concept that encompasses K-drama, K-pop, etc. in the cultural industry. Furthermore, everything Korean, through K-culture, is being put at the forefront. However, there is insufficient discussion regarding the actions of the women who led the Korean wave. This paper examines the female fans and girl groups who played leading roles in the rise of popular culture and its transnational prominence within the context of the female agency and female labor involved. The lack of acknowledgment of their roles is linked to the current erasure of the discussion on the female youth. Discussion on “woman” is still limited to the domain of reproduction in the generational discussion that has replaced the existing nation-state or class led discussions in the current era of neoliberalism. However, since The reboot or the popularity of feminism in recent years, the interest in the female narrative, in works such as ‘Kim Ji-young, Born 1982’ has been expanding beyond East Asia to the rest of the world. Just as Hallyu was created by women in the beginning, there is a new trend in which women across national borders are joining in solidarity. As such, the present study attempts to prove that the female fan, girl group, and female youths must be one meta-narrative through a feminist reading, rather than individuals with separate identities.

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This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.
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