Korean Wave Reception and Participatory Fan Culture in Latin America

Prof Wonjung Min

This event is co-organized by Centre of Korean Studies

Abstract

Although discussing the Korean Wave (or Hallyu in Korean) in Latin America poses special challenges, the sheer scope of the topic makes it especially alluring. The key question is whether the popularity of Korean popular culture in Latin America represents a substantial transnational cross-cultural reception of Korean culture or merely an ephemeral fan culture. We must consider the socioeconomic gap as well as the generational gap in order to understand the Korean Wave, and the reception of the Korean Wave, especially K-pop and participatory fan culture in Latin America continues to be somewhat sporadic, unstable and entirely based on cultural interpretations by each individual fan. The focus of this talk is to provide some insight into the lack of equivalence in order to facilitate deeper intercultural understanding. This analysis will use the Korean and Latin American media reports on the concerts of K-pop idol groups from 2012 through 2014.

Speaker Biography

Min Wonjung is a professor in the Department of History and Executive Committee Member of the Asian Studies Center of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She holds a doctorate in Latin American literature and her research areas include intercultural communication between Korea and America, cultural hybridization in the identity formation of Korea and Chile and popular culture. Among her numerous articles and books, the followings are notable: “Implicit Notions of Korean Identity: The Absence of Explicit Communication in Korean Hybrid Greetings” ( Universum: Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales Vol. 31, N°2, 2016), “Post-unification Inter-Korean Intercultural Communication: Examining the Impact of History Education on New Identity Formation” ( S/N Korean Humanities Volume 2 Issue 1, March 2016), “A Short History of the Ups and Downs of Korean Studies in Latin America: Newcomers Meeting the Challenges” ( Journal of Contemporary Korean Studies Vol. 2 No. 1, 2015), “Cultural Expectations behind Korean and Chilean Social Greetings and Proxemics”( Language Facts and Perspectives No. 32) and “Korean Wave” ( Estudios coreanos para hispanohablantes: un acercamiento crítico, comparativo e interdisciplinario (Wonjung Min, Ed.), pp. 63-79. Ediciones UC, 2015).