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Category Archives: Hallyu

Us and Them in Kenkanryu

02-Dec-07

Us and Them in Kenkanryu

Wednesday's talk on the Japanese manga Kenkanryu was packed to overflowing -- a strong contrast with the generally much sparser attendance at the Centre for Korean Studies seminars. Whether that's a reflection of the greater number of people enrolled in Japanese Studies courses, or the popular culture subject matter I don't know. In these few paragraphs I can't do justice to the richness of Nicola Liscutin's analysis -- and with all the Japanese names flying around I was getting a little confused. It would be fascinating to get hold of an English translation of the books, but I can't imagine that many people apart from me would buy one. For those unfamiliar with the manga, it presents a strongly conservative Japanese view ...
Also filed in Conference reports, Historical, SOAS | | Comments (2) »

The Japanese anti-Korean wave

27-Nov-07
Although this is a bit last minute, readers might be interested in tomorrow's Japan Research Centre Seminar, which concerns the nationalist manga phenomenon 'Kenkanryu' and the so-called 'Anti-Korean Wave' in Japan. Wednesday 28 November, 5pm, SOAS main buildings G51 "Surfing the neo-nationalist wave: a case study of the manga Kenkanryu" Dr Nicola Liscutin (Birkbeck College)
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The Grand Culture Project

22-Aug-07
At the SOAS / AKS conference on 26 June, the talk by Kim Hyeon, Associate Professor of Cultural Informatics at the Academy of Korean Studies, had the title "the Korean Wave, Cultural Content and Cultural Informatics". "What on earth is Cultural Informatics?" I hear you ask. You would not be alone. But read on. The premise of the thesis runs roughly thus: Some of the biggest hallyu hits have been Joseon dynasty historical dramas. Take Dae Jang Geum and the King and the Clown. These have been great export earners for Korea, Inc. Wouldn't it be great if you could bottle the formula? But a brief look at the genesis of the King and the Clown highlights a problem in the lifecycle of a ...
Also filed in Business, Conference reports, Dae Jang Geum, Film, Lee Jun-ik, SOAS, TV drama | | Comments (0) »

The Japanese counter-wave

29-Mar-07
March's edition of Seoul magazine has an interesting article discussing how cultural waves do not travel in just one direction. Supporters of Korean culture are keen to point out the unstoppability of the hallyu: Rain in the Philippines, BoA in Japan, Super Junior in China, TV Dramas everywhere (except the UK it seems). Back home, though, the Koreans aren't necessarily consuming just Korean culture. From books to pop music, Japanese culture is more than making its presence felt. The Korean music industry exports cute boys to China? Japan does the same to Korea. Seoul magazine reports: Last December, a Japanese "pretty boy" idol group, Arashi, held its first concert in Korea, and the 88,000 won tickets were sold out in one hour. The statistics ...
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Hallyu and nationalism stories

13-Feb-07
A brief round-up of recent hallyu and nationalism stories. Rain's producer, Park Jin-young, says the word "Korean" should be removed from "Korean Wave". "I don't understand why the Korean wave is taken as the rah-rah material," Mr. Park said. "Now is the time to overcome nationalism, but instead we are intensifying that sentiment." Park has a similar message in the Chosun. Mark Russell has a good post about it here. The Korean women's speed-skating team apologize for their impromptu protest about the ownership of Mount Paektu. Follow some of the Marmot's links for the background. There are some fun photoshops of the protest here and here And on the subject of disputed territory in the North of Korea, some rather old news on how Korean ...
Also filed in Nationalism | | Comments (0) »

Korea’s cute and funky cultural exports

22-Dec-06
Chatham House Korea Discussion Group China's 'Korea Wave': National Branding, Piracy, Idols and Fans Speaker: Dr Rowan Pease, 6 December 2006, 1:15pm If ever you get the chance to hear Rowan Pease talk on her chosen subject of the hallyu in China, drop everything and go to it. Even if you've heard some of her material before, there will always be something fresh and new. And even if you've heard all of it before, it's still entertaining to hear her quotes from teenage Chinese chat-room frequenters. Her opening remarks at her Chatham House talk earlier this month had the assembled company of academics, diplomats and city slickers completely embarrassed at their disconnection from popular culture. When did any of us last go to a ...
Also filed in Chatham House, Conference reports, Dae Jang Geum, Super Junior, VoDs | Tagged | Comments (6) »

Prof Kim Chang-nam: history & characteristics of modern Korean culture

21-Jun-06
(SOAS, 5 June 2006, 7pm: the concluding event of the London Korean Festival 2006) I'm more reluctant than usual to make this post. The ground covered in Professor Kim's hugely stimulating conclusion to the London Korean Festival was more than extensive, and left the audience wanting to ask tons of questions. To condense a hundred years of Korean popular culture into 90 minutes or less inevitably involves cutting corners and omitting crucial detail. And summarising that summary here risks trivialising and oversimplifying what Kim was saying. So if you're reading this, think of this post as (a) more private and (b) more error-prone than my usual stuff. I'm just posting this to try to make sense of the scrawled notes I ...
Also filed in Conference reports, Film, London Korean Festival 2006, Music: K-pop, TV drama | Tagged | Comments (2) »

Hallyuwood: Korean Screen Culture conference programme

20-May-06
London Senate House, 20 May 2005 Conference programme and paper abstracts "Hallyuwood: Korean Screen Culture Goes Global," featuring international speakers Professor Koichi Iwabuchi (Waseda University) and Professor Kim Soyoung (Korean National University of Arts), and sponsored by Korean Air and Goldsmiths College. Venue: Senate House. 9.30 Registration 10.00 Chris Berry (Goldsmith College, University of London): Introduction / Welcome Chair: Chris Berry (Goldsmiths College, University of London) 10.30 Soyoung Kim (Korean National University of Arts): Anagram of Inter-Asian Korean Film: The Case of My Sassy Girl Reclaiming its position between the Hollywood, Asian, and Korean cinema industries, the South Korean film industry in the post-IMF era after the 1997 financial crisis received a most unexpected but welcome gift. This was the pan-Asian success of Korean popular culture known as the ...
Also filed in Events news, General academia | | Comments (1) »

What a difference a region makes

31-Mar-06
East Asian popular culture currents and counter-currents, Birkbeck College, 17/18 March 2006 Thanks to Chris Berry (Goldsmiths) and Nicola Liscutin (Birkbeck) for putting together a stimulating day and a half symposium discussing regional popular culture in East Asia.
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Hallyuwood: Korean Screen Culture Goes Global

29-May-05
I was unable to attend the conference, and I am grateful to Prof Hu Puzhong for this report: The symposium has witnessed a relatively blissful atmosphere probably because the Korean wave and its cultural representation in screen production seem to have become an alternative in a world dominated by the hegemony of Hollywood. Academics from the cultural studies sphere discussed and shared their research on the undeniably influential cultural phenomenon. Asian freshness in topics made the symposium not so dry. Chris Berry, a professor in Goldsmith College, University of London, introduced by expressing the terminology Hallyuwood. Since the pan-Asian hits SHIRI and MY SASSY GIRL came out, Korean screen seems to have been accustomed to bringing about surprise for the film academics. ...
Also filed in Conference reports, Film, TV drama | | Comments (0) »

Korean Cinema Conference

15-May-05
Charlotte Street Hotel, 10 May 2005 One of the sideshows of the 2005 London Korean Film Festival was a get-together of industry representatives, academics and observers who made observations on current trends in the Korean film industry and the reception of Korean films in the UK.
Also filed in Conference reports, Film | | Comments (0) »