A creative guide to a unique and beautiful form of Korean art, steeped in ancient tradition. Bojagi (wrapping cloths) are textiles pieced together from small scraps of fabric – they are a unique form of Korean textile art. The careful arrangement of shapes and colours shows an abstract composition which has made bojagi popular with … [Read More]
Booklist: Entertainment and Lifestyle
Fiction and non-fiction centred in the world of Korean popular culture and lifestyle, plus the occasional title that’s not meant to be taken too seriously. A guaranteed academe-free zone.
Introducing Korean Popular Culture
This new textbook is a timely and interdisciplinary resource for students looking for an introduction to Korean popular culture, exploring the multifaceted meaning of Korean popular culture at micro and macro levels and the process of cultural production, representation, circulation and consumption in a global context. Drawing on perspectives from the humanities and social sciences, … [Read More]
Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital
A cutting-edge journalistic exposé of self-care consumerism, using the extreme case South Korea to both celebrate the astounding growth of K-Beauty and South Korean pop culture as a global export and examine the dark implications for women in a looks-obsessed patriarchy, in a debut that asks the question: What is the future of beauty? From … [Read More]
How to Live Korean
From the publisher’s website: How to Live Korean takes a deep-dive into Korean culture, unpacking what it means to be Korean in all its forms and uncovering the way the locals think, what they enjoy getting up to and who they do it with. Whether it’s Korean movie Parasite sweeping the Oscars, the explosion of … [Read More]
Juche – How to Live Well the North Korean Way
From the publisher’s website: ‘Game changing. Juche is to shape the cultural zeitgeist just as The Little Book of Hygge did.’ Fern Brady ‘A book to bring shame upon our depraved morals and our wilted-spinach governments.’ Ivo Graham How did North Korea become the top-rated destination on Tripadvisor? The answer is Juche … ‘In this … [Read More]
Korean Culture Dictionary: From Kimchi To K-Pop And K-Drama Clichés
From the publisher’s catalogue: Before reading this book, you probably had some moments of curiosity in your life where you questioned certain things about Korean culture. Why is there a Pepsi logo on the Korean flag? Why do Korean kids in my class only have like… three last names (Kim, Lee, Park)? If you are … [Read More]
K-Pop Confidential
From the publisher’s website: A Korean-American girl travels to Seoul in hopes of debuting in a girl group at the same K-pop company behind the most popular boy band on the planet, in this romantic coming-of-age novel perfect for K-pop fans everywhere! Candace Park knows a lot about playing a role. For most of her … [Read More]
If I Had Your Face
From the publisher’s website: A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop mania “Powerful and provocative … a novel about female strength, spirit, resilience—and the solace … [Read More]
The Power of Nunchi: The Korean Secret to Happiness and Success
From the publisher’s website: ‘A must-read for anyone interested in the art of intuitively knowing what others feel.’ Haemin Sunim, author of The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down and Love for Imperfect Things ‘A lovely book to have in your home and your lives.’ Chris Evans, Breakfast Show Nunchi (noon-chee): eye measure. The subtle art of gauging other … [Read More]
The KPOP Dictionary: 500 Essential Korean Slang Words and Phrases Every K-Pop, K-Drama, K-Movie Fan Should Know
From the publisher’s website: “Take a Peek into the Psychology of Modern Korean People Through Slang” -李宇龙, SM Entertainment- “The Kpop Dictionary is a fun mix of common slang and adages frequently found in Kpop and Korean Dramas which will help provide abase for understanding that goes far beyond subtitles. As a YouTube personality who … [Read More]
Funereal
From the publisher’s website: Soobin Shin is an aspiring young woman in a near-future version of Seoul. Ever since her college graduation, she has struggled to escape from her dead-end job in a doughnut chain. Her twin sister Hyewon is one of Korea’s most recognizable models, but Soobin just can’t seem to find her lucky … [Read More]
A Geek in Korea: Discovering Asia’s New Kingdom of Cool
From the publisher’s website: For every fan of K-Pop music, Korean Wave dramas and Kimchi—or anyone intrigued by Korea and Korean culture—A Geek in Korea is a hip, new guide to the land of the Samsung smartphone and Gangnam Style. Author Dan Tudor first arrived in Korea on the eve of the 2002 World Cup when … [Read More]
The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture
From the publisher’s website: How did a really unhip country suddenly become cool? How could a nation that once banned miniskirts, long hair on men and rock ‘n’ roll come to mass produce pop music and a K-pop star that would break the world record for the most YouTube hits? Who would have predicted that … [Read More]
K-POP Now! The Korean Music Revolution
From the publisher’s website: K-Pop Now! takes a fun look at Korea’s high-energy pop music, and is written for its growing legions of fans. It features all the famous groups and singers and takes an insider’s look at how they have made it to the top. In 2012, Psy’s song and music video “Gangnam Style” suddenly … [Read More]
Ask a Korean Dude: An Authoritative and Irreverent Guide to the Korea Experience
From the publisher’s website: Korea: A country where tradition and rapid modernization meet in a dynamic dichotomy full of seemingly incongruous, yet somehow germane ethnic charms. It is these very elements that truly set Korea apart from its Asian colleagues as a bombastically inclined but strangely endearing little country. This book is a collection of … [Read More]
Pop Goes Korea: Behind the Revolution in Movies, Music, and Internet Culture
From the publisher’s website: From kim chee to kim chic! South Korea came from nowhere in the 1990s to become one of the biggest producers of pop content (movies, music, comic books, TV dramas, online gaming) in Asia and the West. Why? Who’s behind it? Mark James Russell tells an exciting tale of rapid growth … [Read More]