KJCKorea
Journal Central

<What Is Love> that displays the eating habits, tastes, educational orientation, and language usage of middle-class families, and makes viewers seriously think about the dignity and culture of the middle class. This drama, which explores the customs of Korean society, unexpectedly received a great response in China. This is because China shared a similar middle-class discourse as Korea, although the national and cultural identities were different. Just like Korean viewers, Chinese viewers were also drawn to the desire for middle-classness shown in the drama and responded to <What Is Love>. Similar social situations and desires in two different countries resonated through a single drama, and unexpectedly, it was able to lead to a great response called the Korean Wave. The first Korean drama, <What is Love>, demonstrated that the virtue of K-drama which appeals to people around the world, is to convey honest expressions and criticisms of contemporary desires in the most Korean way.

Korean Wave, Hallyu, K-Drama, What is Love, Middle Class Discourse, Current Affair