Menu
close
Anonymous.
AnonymousI did not hear about the Korean wave until I participated in this seminar. However, the mass popularity of Psy reflects that there is a market that is ready for the consumption of Korean culture. I really enjoyed viewing and being introduced to the variety of pop culture coming out of Korea. I also think my students will enjoy viewing/experiencing some of this media as well.
clay dubeMax Fisher, "Gangnam Style," Washington Post, Oct. 18, 2012. How and why K-pop's visual style has triumphed.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2012/10/18/visual-music-how-gangnam-style-exploited-k-pops-secret-strength-and-overcame-its-biggest-weakness/
AnonymousGreat ideas for teaching dance to elementary age children. Our fourth grade level has for the past two years practiced and trained for a dance hip hop contest between the fourth grade classes that culminates with a school wide performance towards the end of the school year. We will continue this again this Spring and I will incorporate some presentations and discussions of the Korean Wave and K-Pop. Interesting to see the USC is building a new School of Dance that will focus and hip hop and other modern dance movements. One of my parent volunteers with hip hop dance teaching experience assisted our class in developing a dance routine. She will be assisting the entire school this year with the Principal's invitation. I will be sharing this information with them.
clay dubeFascinating story about the breakup of a Japanese boy band. Fans don't want to let go, even though the youngest member of the band is 40. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/20/world/asia/japan-smap-breakup.html
AnonymousThis was a really funny article in my opinion, (maybe depressing for the people of Japan), on the Boy Band SMAP who are nearly all in their early 40's. Who would have thought that a Boy Band could have such a huge impact on the Japanese people and also the surrounding nations. Their fame makes sense considering they are they longest running famous Boy Band, being together for nearly 3 decades. I thought it was funny that Japan's minister of economy, trade, and industry mentioned that the economy would suffer as a result of the break up! I have to say I doubt that, but the article makes a pretty convincing argument in regards to their popularity.
AnonymousThe lecture on Korean culture and hallyu was immensely interesting, and it led me to research other Korean variety shows. That’s when I came across Love Letter, which seems to be like a more humorous version of the Bachelor/Bachelorette and features Korean celebrities who go through a series of events such as questioning and doing dance battles to compete for each other’s affections. I found it to be more entertaining because it’s much more lighthearted in comparison to any romance-based reality TV shows in the U.S. because the ones in the U.S. as so much more dramatic. In Love Letter, the contestants get to play games with each other as opposed to having to vie for attention of one person.
I found the Love Letter episodes on YouTube, and they were subtitled. However, the graphics that appear on the screen are not translated, so it makes me curious as to what they mean.
Here’s a link if anyone is interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-oJbfJPbQU&list=PLAlr4aFQcH5xGw726b8VW4tBXZw3kTwBK&index=1
AnonymousWhen I was growing up, I loved movies from Hongkong in the early 90s and listened to Japanese songs. Korean movies were not really good, songs were mostly copycats of Japanese and/or American pop songs. That how I became familiar with their cultures and it made me like their cultures and languages. As I shared during the class, I still feel very weird about Korean Wave in many countries. I am currently working at Carnival as part time as a check-in agent, and some guests tried to talk to me in Korean because they love either K-pop and/or K-drama. I am glad my country's cultural products are getting popular, and I hope K-drama's violent scenes go away to meet global standards when it comes to gender equality.
AnonymousCall me old fashion, but I just find it hard to cheer or support the growth of "E-gaming". What message are we sending our children? “Oh, it's okay if you don't study hard or get off the couch or interact with the world. You can still make a great living and become famous just by playing video games."
cgaoPlease download and read the attached documents.
edited by cgao on 7/22/2016
AnonymousThe idea of hallyu, the Korean wave, was a smart strategy to influence people to view South Korea in a more positive light, especially considering how oftentimes, people focus on the fact that it went through a war and split from North Korea.
Moreover, I would argue that the soft power has influenced Korean-American children to take pride in their culture. I used to work at a Korean after school, and many of the students were obsessed with K-pop. While it was somewhat of a distraction from their studies at times, it was great that they felt such an affinity to Korean culture and felt strongly about maintaining it.
It is equally interesting that so many people from other countries/cultures has embraced Korean culture. I know that in China, there have been many reported incidents related to people binge-watching the Korean drama “My Love from the Star,” which Professor Jung-Kim had talked about during her lecture. Below is a Buzzfeed article outlining some of the ways that some Chinese people went over the top with their obsessions.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberlywang/an-insanely-popular-korean-drama-is-ruining-lives-in-china?utm_term=.auPwM3oL6B#.weBd9l2yvw
I haven’t met any student who has expressed liking Korean dramas, but I do wonder if some of my students do. Many have already expressed liking Japanese anime, but the K-pop lovers might be in hiding.