[ZhangTina]

I wasn’t sure how I would use this information in my history class as what we have learned is very modern, and what I teach is not. Yet I have found out, even in this short month that we’ve had school, that what we’ve learned have colored what I teach. When I give an example of the rise and fall of civilizations, I brought up the concept of soft power, as even though physical power and borders are much more visible, culture crosses borders and are just as, if not more, powerful, but often times tends to be overlooked. 

 

In my International Relations course, we read an article on “The Clash of Civilizations?” By Samuel P. Huntington. In it, he talks about culture, and how it is our next point of conflict as people tend to value their own cultures, at times, even above their own national interest, thereby creating internal divisions. But on the broader viewpoint, Huntington argues that the West is becoming less important as “non-Wests…increasing have the desire, the will and the resources to shape the world in non-Western ways.” Here, I bring in the concept of Hallyu, and how even ten year ago, people thought the Korean wave would end in just 5 years! Yet, we know for a fact that this wave is going strong and, I think, will be around for a long time! 

 

I don’t think it is only the students who will benefit from knowing the information I learned in this course, for, even before school started, and I don’t even remember how the topic came about, but one of my colleagues was taking about the Korean concept of Han, and how that is so prevalent in Korea and directs much of its policy and culture. Because of this class, I was able to counter that statement and tell him about the concept of Heung, and how modern Korea is changing! 

 

Overall, I thought the course was enlightening and helped me understand Korea in a way that I would never get to if I was just reading about it myself. 

[ZhangTina]

I just wanted to share this one because I saw this at my local Internation grocery store!

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[ZhangTina]

A certificate of completion will be good. Thank you so much for the course! 

[ZhangTina]

It was funny, but we had a department meeting yesterday and one of the other history teachers was asking about the concept of han, the concept of grievance, in Kdramas. One of the other teachers, who knew a little about Korean culture answerd and talked about how pervasive it was in Korean movies and brount up movies such as Parasite. However, he did not bring up the concept of heung (excitment), and I could add on to that a little with kpop and esports and webtoons. 

I loved the idea of oderlessness, and realized maybe that is one of the reasons that the charaters in the webtoons all had didfferent colord hair, so that they could be from anywhere! 

[ZhangTina]

"The continued consumption of Japanese soy sauce served as a reminder to Koreans of the trauma of Japanese colonization."

I think this is a little extreme, considering that food has been moving across borders ever since the beginning of man. If not for the movement of Old World foods into the New World, then the New World wouldn't experience beef, citrus fruits, coffee, sugar, and many other types foods. Does the consumption of coffee and sugar constantly remind the natives of the New World of their enslavement by the colonists? Perhaps. Then does that mean that they have to boycott these foods as well? Or is using these new foods in new ways good enough for people to consume them without guilt? Perhaps that's why Kimbap is so popular despite its colonial history. 

[ZhangTina]

Maybe its because I grew up in a time period in Communist China when meat, or even food really, was scarce, but I love the idea that I can eat meat just about anytime I want! I remember the only fish we ever had was belt fish because it was packed in salt and was the only fish we could get in the middle if northern China. Meat was a luxury that we get only once a month, and that was only if the stores had them in stock. It didn't matter if you had ration tickets for them, if they're not in, you simply cannot get any. Since most people didn't have refrigeration back then, fresh meat was actually very scarce. Although Spam didn't really reach China because the US did not occupy China, I learned about them after I immigrated, and I was amazed! 

[ZhangTina]

The second article talked about how the reality TV shows project a Korean form of idealized masculinity, and how the shows are teaching the modern Korean man on how to become a better father. While this may seem true, especially with the subtitles and voiceovers, I think this is more of a world wide phenomenon. I mean, what woman does not want their husband to be a better father? and also, at the same time, relish the idea that their husbands are not doing as good of a job as they are? In the UK and the US, in the early 2000's as well, there was a reality show called Wife Swap, where different moms from different types of families are switched, to see how well she can handle in other difficult situations. Looking at the show through this lens, it would seem that other "moms" are also relishing the idea that maybe they are not doing that bad of a job either. If what the author is saying is true, then the UK and the US is projecting an idealized "mother" for its Western audiences as well. I mean, why is the role of the female alway the "mom"? I think the author has a good point a the end, where she says that the government is more concerned with promoting woman's reproductive role rather than facing issues like pay equality amongst genders and homosexual households. 

[ZhangTina]

Actually, the baby shark song is much older as I remember one of my students singing it in 2006. The video was made in Korea in 2016, but its not from Korea.

[ZhangTina]

Reading about the history of Kpop reminds me much of Chinese history and music. I have to admit that I'm not much of a music fan, and will listen to whatever is readily available, and whatever music was readily available under Communist China were music promoting Communist China. I.E, there were not that many choices. Korean history progressed similar to China, so music up until the 40's and 50's have similar undertones. Still, I was surprised about how recent Kpop emerged, and I guess that's because South Korea's historical trajectory diverges from China in the 50's. While I'm one of these people who got their first taste of Kpop with Psy, I expected Kpop to be more developed. 

As for the promotion of the modern Kpop stars with its various different "stock" personalities that are"strategically manufactured," this is very common in movies and T.V shows as well, like Meteor Garden. These different "personalities" will attract different audiences and bring in fans across the board. Even though these groups have contracts that stipulated their work hours and where they live, this is commonly seen in sports training as well, though music stars have a much shorter life span as sports training will take years. I know how much influence these stars have on the public, and now I know where the "cutesy" girl talk that is so popular in Asia comes from! Influencers, because of the large platform they have, should be more careful as to what they are trying to promote. Unfortunately the big conglomerate that control these influencers do not always care about the effects of their promotions as long as they get their own agenda across. 

[ZhangTina]

While I loved that the movie focused on the older generation and used older actors, I'm not too thrilled about being comparted to a dodge ball! LOL!

[ZhangTina]

That is amazing! I read up a little about her after the movie and found out that she went to school in Pittsburg right before she made Miss Granny. I don't know anythig about her other movies and wonder if she actually gets to use English in any of her other movies. 

[ZhangTina]

I just watched Miss Granny on Netflix and loved it! I had to stop the movie several times because I was either laughing too hard, or because something happened in the movie that reminded me of my life. I think one of the reasons there are so many remakes is because the topics brought up in the movie are universal. Many themes resonate across cultures, and the remakes all contribute to this idea of glocaliticy.

I notice an uptick in Korean movies on Netflix and have been slowly exploring in this area. I made my first foray into Korean dramas when I watched "Black" (2017) and loved it! I definitely find a shorter series from K dramas more digestible than C drams that can last over 60 episodes a season. I love the historical drama especially, and maybe our reading is right in that I find this more apealing because I'm used to watching this type of thing in C drams, as they "shared historical and cultural backgrounds." 

[ZhangTina]

Hi all. I teach Mandarin and World history in a private school in CT. I was teaching middle school, but made the transition to the upper school last year. Because I'll be traching International Studies next year as well, I thought this would be a good course to take. I was introduced to this class by Kara. We both took the Ties that Bind couse a couple years ago and greatly enjoyed it! So far my favorate part of Korean culture are the Korean dramas and food, and I hope to add to this after this course!

[Author]

Posts