When it comes to the worldwide significance of Korean popular culture right now, the seven-member group BTS (or, 방탄소년단) naturally comes to mind — they are, by almost every measure,…
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Contemporaries Essays, The Hallyu Project
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When Korean Wave Flows Back: The Ethnic Face of Hallyu in Korean Television Audition Programs
On April 6, 2018, WJSN, a Korean girl group, performed a traditional Indian dance with fake mustaches on an episode of TvN’s Super TV. The members attempted to make a…
Contemporaries Essays, The Hallyu Project
Woo Young-Woo’s Whale: A Response to K-streams
Indeed, why K-drama, and why now? Here’s another stab at the billion won question that begins with a parenthetical moment in Eunjin Choi and Rita Raley’s essay, where the authors…
Contemporaries Essays, The Hallyu Project
K-streams: Global Korea and the OTT Era
“What’s good Korea” — BTS, “Idol” (ft. Nicki Minaj) Midway through the k-zombie drama, All Of Us Are Dead, the high school students seeking refuge from their infected peers on…
Contemporaries Essays, The Hallyu Project
Hallyu and Crisis
In episode five (“A Fair World”) of Netflix Korea’s international hit series, Squid Game (Ojingŏ Keim, 2021 – ), we learn the origin of Gi-hun’s (Lee Jung-jae) misery. Keeping night…
Contemporaries Essays, The Hallyu Project
Temporal Ruptures: Crises of Meaning in Hallyu Dystopias
References to American culture inflect the opening episode of Hwang Dong-Hyuk’s Squid Game (2021). The contestants wear tracksuits reminiscent of Adidas’ trademark style. The jazzy tune of “Fly Me to…
Contemporaries Essays, The Hallyu Project
Squid Games, Transcultural Fan Parodies: Black and Queer Adaptations
The mega-hit Netflix series, Squid Game, has led to hundreds of parody and response videos on YouTube and TikTok. For instance, one of the most popular parody videos, “$456,000 Squid…
Contemporaries Essays, The Hallyu Project
K-Crossover, or, Crying Over Marbles
The unexpected success of the Netflix-financed serial Squid Game in September 2021, written and directed by South Korean filmmaker Hwang Dong-Hyuk, undoubtedly confirmed a rising interest in hallyu. While Squid…
Contemporaries Essays, The Hallyu Project
Cultural Specificity, Hybridity, and Transnationality in Squid Game
Netflix’s original series Squid Game emerged as one of the most discussed TV series in 2021, generating 1.65 billion hours of viewing in 28 days after its release on September…
Contemporaries Essays, The Hallyu Project
The Hallyu Project: Introduction
Consider: Parasite’s historic Best-Picture Oscar win; Squid Game’s still-unrivaled Netflix triumph; the globally chart-topping tracks of BTS and Blackpink; and the recent addition of 26 new Korean words to the…