All About K-pop
Inside Stories behind K-pop’s Rise to Global Fandom
This book takes readers into South Korea’s K-pop industry and the world of K-pop’s transnational fandom. For general readers, this book provides an overview of the most popular K-pop acts and major label companies in South Korea. It explains South Korea’s highly collaborative system of music production that involves a host of professionals including composers, lyricists, choreographers, MV directors, vocal & dance trainers, and K-pop artists. For academics and Korea specialists, this book offers a sociological perspective on the global K-pop phenomenon. It provides a detailed analysis of the culture of K-pop fandom by examining a wide range of fan activities including cover dance, fan fiction, and fan philanthropy, among many others. Critiquing a cultural or racialized argument about K-pop’s global appeal, it investigates diverse societal factors conducive to the diffusion of K-pop across borders. It explains how South Korea’s politics, technology, and businesses have jointly shaped a socio-cultural environment favorable to the development of K-pop. Taking a comparative and historical approach to K-pop, the author challenges some biased views that K-pop artists largely lack musicianship and that they are just trained by corporations as export products. Debunking the myths of the “Western culture”, it asks readers to question deep biases hidden in some denigrating narratives about K-pop artists in the media.
ISBN 978-1-989043-25-7 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-989043-26-4 (E-book)
South Korea’s Candlelight Revolution.
The Power of Plaza Democracy
Between October 2016 and April 2017, more than 17 million South Koreans took to the streets to demand the resignation of their President over a corruption scandal involving the government. Without a single arrest or casualty, the 2016-2017 candlelight protests paved the way for a peaceful regime change in South Korea. In stark contrast to Korea’s past when pro-democracy protests had been crushed by armed forces, in 2017, South Korean people have ensured a peaceful and orderly transition of power. Exploring socio-political factors that contributed to the success of the Candlelight Revolution, this book sheds light on Korea’s creative protest culture and the power of plaza democracy.
Forthcoming books on Social Movements and the Sate
