Hallyu - Korean Wave Sweeping Across East Asia - Research Paper Example

Hallyu - Korean Wave Sweeping Across East Asia Overview of the Korean Wave The Korean Wave also known as Hallyu, is a popular culture of South Korean origins that has caught on globally. The Korean Wave is comparable to the US’s Hollywood as it is comprised of entertainment in terms of television entertainment, film, drama, music, film stars, comedy and animation. The electronic media including mobile phones, ipods, computer entertainment, fashion, food, cosmetics and even household appliances are increasingly gaining currency as part of the Korean Wave culture (Connor 2009, p. 342). The popularity of the Korean Wave is evidenced by its rising appeal throughout Asia. Asian youths throughout Asia are taking pains to learn Korean just so that they may participate in Korean songs via karaoke. Prior to the surge in Korean pop music stars, Korean films were paving the way for rising popularity of Korean pop culture abroad. For instance, the Korean film Swiri succeeded in making several million dollars at the box office in Japan and at other key Asian locations. The film’s “sound track” became an overnight hit in Japan(Dator and Seo 2004, p. 31). Adding to this was the increasing popularity of South Korea’s television shows with the result that the Japanese were organizing tours of Korea’s film sites. In both China and Taiwan, Korean television programs ranked among the two countries’ most watched (Dator and Seo 2004, p. 31). Television actors have been characterized as pop icons in Asia and pop music bands and other groups have also gained currency throughout Asia. There have been reports that a number of Chinese females have gone so far as to have their faces surgically altered so as to resemble their pop and film idols from Korea. There is also a trend in which Korean foods featured on Korean TV are being eaten with the result that even Korean food has emerged as a “new fad among youngsters in many Asian nations” (Dator and Seo 2004, p. 33). From the perspective of the international media, the Korean Wave represents a welcome alternative to the Hollywood imagery and unipolar dominance. Conversely, it is argued that South Korean drama however is far too similar to Hollywood’s presentations. For example, it is argued that the South Korean 1999 film Tell Me Something is far too closely aligned to Hollywood’s Seven from four years earlier (Lynn 2007, pp. 80-81). The difficulty with these kinds of comparisons is that there are no standard measures for characterizing what amounts to an original work and what constitutes an Oriental work or art (Lynn 2007, p. 81). Explaining the Popularity of the Korean Wave There have been a number of explanations intended to rationalize the popularity of the Korean Wave. According to one explanation, South Korean stars and icons “have for the most part displayed their Korean origins proudly on their sleeves” (Lyn 2007, p. 80). However, this explanation has been countered by arguments that have claimed that the Asian characterization of the media art is far more influential than its Korean culture. It is therefore the Asian displays implicit in the Korean Wave that enables the rising middle classes in Asia to identify and express Asian values. It is the Asian characteristics of the Korean Wave that aid Asian viewers with a means by which to: Make sense of modernity in its multiple manifestations, or guide dreams and aspirations through the spectacles of dazzling material luxury of the “modernized Korea” that is portrayed in the shows (Lynn 2007, p. 80). Ma (2007) argues that the reality is, the Korean Wave provides a viable substitute for Hollywood and Westernized media entertainment domination in general. To this end, the Korean Wave creates a gulf between the absorption of American values and something that is uniquely Asian which in turns promotes “Asian solidarity” to a certain extent (Ma 2007, p. 130). Although the Korean film images are marked by profoundly imitating Western capitalism, it is undoubtedly Asian in nature. As Ma (2007) explains: The nostalgia for the old ways comes dressed in new Western clothes, though: the set, costumes, and cityscapes marked by advanced capitalism; the soundtrack playing the ubiquitous Western piano and violin; repeated allusions to, if no partially set in, the West; and the stars’ fetishized Western-looking physiques – fair skin, long legs, dyed hair. Clearly the centripetal force homeward contains its centrifugal opposite Westward (Ma 2007, p. 130). Iwabuchi (2008) maintains that the impressive spread of the Korean Wave throughout Asia is a result of the desire among Asia’s audience for a replacement of Hollywood entertainment. Korea’s television dramas and films offered a viable alternative and also provided Asians with a feeling of nostalgia as it presented drama that could be identified with Asians’ daily existence. Moreover, the Korean alternative provided a degree of “technical sophistication” (Iwabuchi 2008, p. 31). For many years the American culture portrayed by Hollywood remained the dominant culture in terms of pop culture in East Asia. In this regard, Asia culture remained unknown and unshared in the international media. The international media has used Hollywood’s drama for capturing the essence of modern times and the modern imagination. As a result of the Korean Wave, Asian consumers are finally absorbing their own cultural images and dramatization. Together with Japanese films, Hong Kong films and Thai films, the Korean Wave is promoting a uniquely Asian culture. These trends in Asian entertainment media are providing meaningful methods for the exchange of culture in the region. These exchanges have for too long been suppressed by the international media in favour of a Hollywood dominated pop culture (Iwabuchi 2008, p. 31). Another explanation for the increasing popularity of the Korean Wave is often neglected in the literature. The role of the Korean government, while neglected in the literature is entirely important for understanding why the Korean Wave has gained so much currency throughout Asia. The fact is, Korea media exports and its potential to improve Korea’s domestic image abroad and to draw increasing attention to Korea’s products have not been lost on the government. An increase in the sale of Korean products abroad corresponds with the increasing popularity of the Korean Wave. For instance, Vietnam Korean television dramas draw the country’s highest television ratings. At the same time, a Korean cosmetics firm is the country’s most popular cosmetics firm. This means that more and more Vietnamese are profoundly influenced by Korean images and icon representations in the Korean media (Thussu 2007, p. 124). These kinds of parallels have undoubtedly influenced Korea’s government in terms of its policies toward the export of Korean media and culture. As Thussu (2007) explains: Since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Korean government has targeted the export of popular culture as a new economic initiative, one of the major sources of foreign revenue vital for the country’s economic advancement (p. 124). Korea does not have a wide array of natural resources and as a result has striven to minimize its on-going reliance on China’s manufacturing industry. Persuaded by the popularity of the Korean Wave, trade bureaucrats recommended that Korea focus more intently on marketing its technology, services and culture abroad. This would include television programming, video games, films and other like media services. In response, the Korean government has taken a position that cashes in on the Korean Wave and has been as supportive of exporting this culture in the same manner as it has been with respect to the export of Korea’s motor vehicles and electronic technologies (Thussu 2007, p. 124). In this regard it is conceivable that the growth and perpetuation of the Korean Wave is a result of the government’s policy. It is also possible the Korea represents the first state to deliberately acknowledge the benefits of exporting popular culture and to formulate policies that are intended to create a “dream society of icons and aesthetic experience” (Thussu 2007, p. 124). Essentially, popular culture has emerged as a viable industry in Korea. It is not only perceived as a method for enhancing economic development, but also a means by which the country’s image can be enhanced. For the Korean government, Korean culture and media is seen as a method by which to improve “the nation’s brand power” (Thussu 2007, p. 124). Thussu (2007) explains: The immediate profits or effects created by the Korean Wave phenomenon are important but the improvement of the national image, though intangible, is considered as more important (p. 124). Although the Korean Wave was initially facilitated by private industries, it was the government’s support that played a significant role in the Korean Wave’s rapid growth and spread. It is the Korean government’s political agenda and the institutions that created the popular culture market that have produced the necessary conditions for the increasing popularity of the Korean Wave (Thussu 2007, p. 124). Moreover, the opening of Korea’s markets to the world also influenced the growing popularity of the Korean Wave. When Korea opened its markets to the world there was a concern that there would be a Western infiltration of the Korean culture. These concerns were exemplified by a degree of uncertainty relative to the ability of Korea’s own culture to compete with Western cultures. It was perhaps these fears that facilitated the popularity of the Korean Wave (Thussu 2007, p. 125). As Thussu (2007) puts it: The threat of a foreign cultural invasion was dispelled not by protecting but by opening up the domestic market. The Korean Culture industry has been developed as a national project competing within globalization, not against it (p. 125). It is therefore the culmination of a number of factors that gave way to the popularity and rapid growth of the Korean Wave. The exchange of Asian culture, an escape from Hollywood’s dominance in entertainment media, identification of Asian culture, government support and globalization have all played a role in the growth and popularity of the Korean Wave. Perhaps the most convincing explanation is offered by Mcphail (2010). According to McPhail (2010), the Korean Wave can be characterizes as a consequence of a renewed explosion in attention to “Asian values among Asian people” who invariable have experienced the modernization movement in a vastly similar manner. In this regard, the theory of cultural proximity takes on specific relevance. Cultural proximity theory takes the position that in general, people prefer to be entertained by media representations that more closely aligned to their own culture and includes the kind of language and national group identity among its casts and portrayers (McPhail 2010, p. 329). From the perspective of Asian culture, Koreas media entertainment were treated to good looking representations of themselves and at the same time were entertained via language that was low on profane and sexual content pursuant to the morality associated with Confucianism. It is therefore hardly surprising that Koreas media entertaining is performing better in Asia than Hollywood’s entertainment media (McPhail 2010, p. 124). Conclusion Regardless of the explanations for the popularity and growth of the Korean Wave, it is a reality that has been sustained and appears to be gaining even more momentum throughout Asia. The mere fact that the Korean Wave is catching on at a phenomenal degree throughout Asia implies that the Korean Wave shares something uniquely Asian with its viewers and participants. The Korean Wave not only draws attention to something of value to Asians, but also provides Asians with an alternative entertainment media to that of Hollywood. The Korean Wave provides Asians with an entertainment medium that is stripped of the Western influences of Hollywood. In this regard the Korean Wave is a manifestation of the validity of the cultural proximity theory. Asians have deliberately chosen to participate in the Korean media as opposed to Hollywood’s media, quite simply because they are able to identify more closely with the Korean media. Hollywood represents the other world, outside of Asia’s grasp and living reality. References Conor, M. E. (2009) The Koreas. New York, NY: ABC-CLIO. Dator, J. and Seo, Y. (August 2004). “Korea as the Wave of a Future: The Emerging Dream Society of Icons and Aesthetic Experience”. Journal of Futures Studies, 9(1): 31-44. Iwabuchi, K. (2008). East Asian Pop Culture: Analysing the Korean Wave. Aberdeen, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Lyn, H. (2007) Bipolar Orders: The Two Koreas Since 1989. New York, NY: Zed Books Ltd. Ma, S. (2007). East-West Montage: Reflections on Asian Bodies in Diaspora. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press. McPhail, T. (2010). Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders, and Trends. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons Ltd. Thussu, D. (2007). Media on the Move: Global Flow and Contra-Flow. New York, NY: Routledge. Read More