The Rise of K-Dramas: Essays on Korean Television and Its Global Consumption

by JaeYoon Park (Editor), Ann-Gee Lee (Editor)

Overview

Korean dramas gained popularity across Asia in the late 1990s, and their global fandom continues to grow. Despite cultural differences, non-Asian audiences find "K-dramas" appealing. They range from historical melodrama and romantic comedy to action, horror, sci-fi and thriller.

Devotees pursue an immersive fandom, consuming Korean food, fashion and music, learning Korean to better understand their favorite shows, and travelling to Korea for firsthand experiences.

This collection of new essays focuses on the cultural impact of K-drama and its fandom, and on the transformation of identities in the context of regional and global dynamics. Contributors discuss such popular series as Boys over Flowers, My Love from the Star and Descendants of the Sun.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476677477
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	06/20/2019
Pages:	229
Sales rank:	705,821
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

JaeYoon Park is an assistant professor of media communication at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. She has published articles in Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media and Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture. Ann-Gee Lee is an associate professor of English at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Her research interests lie in women’s studies, covert rhetoric, civic discourse, and popular culture.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface
JaeYoon Park
Introduction
JaeYoon Park viii
Part 1. Fandom, Consumption and International Relations
Consuming K-Drama Cuisine: The Intersection of Fans,
Fandom and Food in the Search for a Real Korean Meal
Jennifer Rachel Dutch
Desiring Asian Masculinities Through Hallyu Tourism
Min Joo Lee
Korean Dramas as Chinese “She-Economy”
Ann-Gee Lee
Riding the Drama Waves: Reconsidering Korean Soft Power
and Clashing Nationalisms
Tony Tai-Ting Liu and Phyllis Wei-Lih Yeh
Part 2. Identity Formation, Transformation and Gender Relations
Gender, Aging and Disability in Dear My Friends (2016)
JaeYoon Park
A Postsecular Analysis of Two Ghost-Infested Dramas
Mary A. Sobhani
Portrayals of “Soft Beauty”: Analyzing South Korean
Soft Masculinities in Media and in Real Life
Sofia Murell
Part 3. Co-Production and Adaptation
Chinese-Korean TV Drama Co-Production: Representations
International Romance and the Potential of Multiculturalism
Elaine W. Chung
An Eastern Perspective on Western Dramas: A Korean Take
on American Television Dramas
Daniela Mazur, Melina Meimaridis and
Afonso de Albuquerque
The East Meets the Middle East: Cultural Proximity,
Audience Reception and Korean TV Adaptations
on Turkish Televisions
Yeşim Kaptan and Murat Tutucu
About the Contributors
Index