In a future Korea, the world has been ravaged by dust clouds and the deadly Akanta virus. Rather than live in their nightmarish present, people slip on virtual reality headsets to indulge in nostalgic simulations of the past. 18-year-old Soop – stigmatised due to her brush with Akanta, which causes VR-rejection – is bullied at … [Read More]
Booklist: Arts and Culture
The Minjung Art Movement: Decolonization and Democracy in South Korea [forthcoming]
Emerging as multifaceted cultural activism, the minjung (people’s) art movement defined the aesthetics of the pro-democracy movements in the 1970s and 1980s in South Korea. Tracing minjung art’s history and legacy, Sohl Lee explores how artists associated with the movement mobilized images, print, and performance to build movement publics and reimagine sovereignty. Hundreds of artists questioned the … [Read More]
From Koreanness to K-ness: Contemporary Korean Culture and Society [forthcoming]
From Koreanness to K-ness: Contemporary Korean Culture and Society aims to conceptualise ‘K-ness’ as a new way of understanding the underlying characteristics that shape the semiotic, cultural, and sociological representations of contemporary Korean culture and society. The global popularity of Korean cultural content has sparked extensive interest in various facets of the Korean language, culture, and … [Read More]
The Cultural Diplomacy of South Korea: Exhibiting the Nation in International Museums [forthcoming]
This book explores the role played by museums and museum exhibitions in South Korea’s cultural diplomacy and international projection of itself to the world. Based on extensive archival research and fieldwork in cultural diplomatic institutions across South Korea, Britain and the United States, this book charts the important role played by this form of cultural … [Read More]
Jeong: The Spirit of Korean Craft and Design [forthcoming]
The first book to explore the full scope and beauty of Korean design – from traditional craft to celebrated contemporary creations Characterized by a unique blend of tradition and innovation, and by a focus on sustainability and efficiency, Korean design is recognized for its creativity, quality, and beauty. Jeong: The Spirit of Korean Craft and … [Read More]
K-Pop Fandom: Performing Deokhu from the 1990s to Today [forthcoming]
K-Pop Fandom insists that K-pop fan practices and activities constitute a central productive force, shaping not only K-pop’s explosive global popularity, but also K-pop’s cultural impacts, politics, and horizons of possibility. Over the past three decades, the K-pop fandom and its activities have expanded, intensified, and diversified along myriad dimensions, assuming novel social, technological, and economic … [Read More]
Lyrical Translation: The Creation of Modern Poetry in Colonial Korea [forthcoming]
Lyrical Translation is a literary history of modern Korean poetry’s origins and its development through translation. As the use of Korean became increasingly restricted during the Japanese occupation, translation was not a choice but a necessity for higher education and intellectual labor. Yet it also had an expansive, creative function: Korean poets wielded it as an … [Read More]
Critical Approaches to Transmedia Storytelling in K-Pop
In Critical Approaches to Transmedia Storytelling in K-Pop, contributors present a variety of compelling case studies to argue that K-pop has evolved beyond a musical genre into a global cultural phenomenon with a growing influence on contemporary media practices, highlighting its transmedia ecosystem in which complex narratives unfold and engage audiences across formats and platforms. … [Read More]
Bong Joon Ho: Philosopher and Filmmaker
With the release of Parasite (2019), recipient of the Palme d’Or and an Academy Award for Best Picture, South Korean director Bong Joon Ho secured his place as one of his generation’s leading filmmakers. Yet while scholars and critics have long appreciated his penetrating critique of Korean society and global capitalism, his oeuvre has not … [Read More]
Finding Mr. Perfect: K-Drama, Pop Culture, Romance, and Race
Finding Mr. Perfect explores the romantic relationships between Korean men and women who were inspired by romantic Korean televisual depictions of Korean masculinity to travel to Korea as tourists. Author Min Joo Lee argues that disparate racialized erotic desires of Korean pop culture fans, foreign tourists to Korea, Korean men, and the Korean nation converge to … [Read More]
The History of Korean Popular Culture
This book is a seminal example of historical writing on Korean popular culture, based on solid data that integrates historical facts and cultural symbols within a broader analytical framework, offering insightful critical interpretation. It explores the history of Korean popular culture that has grown and developed on the foundation of modern history. The history of … [Read More]
Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books
From the internationally bestselling author of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop comes a warm and reflective collection of essays about reading, language and life. Why do we read? What is it that we hope to take away from the intimate, personal experience of reading for pleasure? Rarely do we ask these profound, expansive questions of ourselves and … [Read More]
International Relations and the Development of Korea’s Film Industry
This book examines the evolution of the Korean film industry, presenting a comprehensive account from the early days of experimental screening to its current period of attracting increased foreign investment. Exploring the Korean film industry’s troubled past, this book covers occupation, civil war, authoritarianism, globalisation, and the continued uncertainties amidst geopolitical competition. It differs from … [Read More]
Yun Dong-ju: A Critical Biography
Historian and novelist Song WooHye chronicles the life of Yun Dong-ju (1917-1945), one of the most beloved and important poets in the modern Korean literary canon, widely considered Korea’s “National Poet”. Beginning with the history of the North Gando region (now Yanbian, China), where Yun was born, and ending with facts behind the publication of … [Read More]
Beyond the Sewol: Activist Theatre and Performance in South Korea and the Diaspora
On the evening of April 15, 2014, the Sewol ferry set sail on its overnight journey from Incheon, in northwestern South Korea, to Jeju Island, 240 miles to the south. There were 476 people on board. After receiving a distress call from a passenger onboard, Harbor Affairs at Jeju and at Jindo Island both urged … [Read More]
Imperial Entertainers: Korean Women Performers from Military to Global Stages, 1937–75
The book uncovers the untold stories of Korean women performers who navigated successive waves of conflict as cultural laborers in military entertainment, offering insight into the intersection of war, gender, and culture in East Asia. Imperial Entertainers: Korean Women Performers from Military to Global Stages, 1937-1975 uncovers the untold stories of Korean women performers who navigated … [Read More]