COMM232

Korean media culture is one of the major hubs in the circuits of global media, and this class takes a critical approach to the production, distribution, and reception of Korean popular culture as a locally important and increasingly globally significant site of media production. This includes K-pop, cinema, television, webtoons, and video games as sites of meaning. As a critically centered class, we will examine issues of power in the production and reception of media, including Korea’s relationship to the US as a neocolonial power, the legacy of authoritarianism in the postwar decades, Korea as a regional power in Asia, and othering, sexism, and heteronormativity. The goal is for students to build a broad understanding of Korean popular culture in its local and multiply received transnational contexts.