AMES Colloquium: "Polarizing Dreams: Gangnam and Popular Culture in Globalizing Korea"

Anyone genuinely curious about what makes South Korean pop culture tick should look no further than Gangnam. Having been wildly celebrated by an unlikely K-pop superstar called Psy in 2012, it is the epicenter of Hallyu, the Korean Wave. Gangnam is an exclusive zone of wealth and privilege that has lured pop culture industries to take root and flourish since the 1980s. But at the same time, Gangnam is widely regarded as a breeding ground for ‘social evil’ (sahoeak) in South Korea as it has firmly established itself as the shrine of the unholy trinity of Korean capitalism: real estate speculation, adult entertainment/sex industry, and college-prep private education business.

Pil Ho Kim is Associate Professor of Korean Studies at The Ohio State University. A sociologist by training, he has covered a wide range of topics related to modern Korea in his research and teaching, including popular music, cinema, urban culture, and social polarization. He is the author of Polarizing Dreams: Gangnam and Popular Culture in Globalizing Korea (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2024). His next book project investigates the trans-Pacific cultural impact of Black freedom movements on modern Korean history.

The AMES Colloquium is a forum for academic research on Asia and/or the Middle East.
This event is in-person.