Global Hallyu, Local Hollywood, and (the forming of) a New Cultural World

The global success of K-content (cultural products) seems to have been officially acknowledged, with the boy band BTS, the movie Parasite, and the drama Squid Game sweeping the prestigious awards in the United States—the center of our cultural world. Raising questions about the current academic tendency to figure out the secret of K-content's global success from its intrinsic elements, I attempt to revisit K-content's entry into the US from a cultural historical perspective which focuses on what has made the citizens of the cultural capital begin to look back at the periphery. Furthermore, I also try to track the deconstruction of the hierarchical relationship between the center and the periphery of the existing cultural world, which is accompanied with the “provincialization” of the cultural center, and the ensuing creation of a new cultural world, while asking how we should look at it.

This is a hybrid event. The in-person talk will be held at the East Asia Library Room 224. Pleaser RSVP here and indicate how you will be joining.

About the speaker:

Born and raised in Korea, Eunyeong Kim joined the faculty of Inha University in 2022. Specializing in modern Chinese literature and East Asian history of thought, she received her BA and MA from Seoul National University and Ph. D. from Stanford University. She also studied at Chinese Academy of Social Science and Seoul National University Asia Center as a visiting scholar. In her doctoral dissertation, she explored East Asia’s awakening of thirdworldness, focusing on Lu Xun (Chinese writer), Takeuchi Yoshimi (Japanese thinker), and Lee Yeung-hi (South Korean journalist). Her research interests include, among others, China’s socialist culture, South Korea’s democratization movement, and East Asian pop culture. She is currently working on a national project examining the transnational and transcultural role of East Asian platforms such as Tencent and Naver. She has written many award-winning papers and articles on literature, pop music, and science fiction of East Asian countries and regions.