Korean Masculinities and Transcultural Consumption: Yonsama, Rain, Oldboy, K-Pop Idols

by Sun Jung

South Korean masculinities have enjoyed dramatically greater influence in recent years in many realms of pan-Asian popular culture, which travels freely in part because of its hybrid trans-nationalistic appeal. This book investigates transcultural consumption of three iconic figures ― the middle-aged Japanese female fandom of actor Bae Yong-Joon, the Western online cult fandom of the thriller film Oldboy, and the Singaporean fandom of the pop-star Rain. Through these three specific but hybrid contexts, the author develops the concepts of soft masculinity, as well as global and postmodern variants of masculine cultural impacts. In the concluding chapter, the author also discusses recently emerging versatile masculinity within the transcultural pop production paradigm represented by K-pop idol boy bands.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gender

232 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2010

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m always down for a pop culture ethnography, so I was naturally very excited to start this. I knew it would be outdated because pop culture changes in a millisecond, but was hoping to find some useful frameworks and analyses nonetheless. Overall, this wasn’t exactly what I wanted but I had a good time reading nonetheless.

I find transnational/cultural consumption and gender constructions both incredibly fascinating topics and so I naturally enjoyed reading more about them both here. The use of three distinct ethnographic studies in three distinct cultures was not a methodology I have encountered before, so reading about that was really engaging. I found the different studies the author embarked on very interesting and really liked how many participant quotes she included in those sections. I thought her analysis of that data was generally sound, although there were a few minor things I found less convincing. Nothing major though, just some points where I would have gone in a different direction.

However, despite enjoying the subject matter, I don't think Jung's discussion of transnational consumption and masculinity came together in a convincing way. Each chapter (roughly) has a section on (1) the intertwined history of Korea and the relevant country (2) the history of the pop culture product (3) the ways the product is consumed transnationally (4) the history of masculinity in each country (5) the masculinity portrayed in the particular pop culture product (6) the way transnational fans respond to said masculinity. Its...a lot and I don't think the author did a good job of connecting all these disparate pieces. Even the summary sections at the end felt more like repeating the material than synthesizing it, especially in the Rain and Oldboy chapters which, to me, felt the most disconnected. The Yonsama chapter, to me, felt the most cohesive of the core chapters.

I say core chapters because there is, of course, an introduction and conclusion but they are...weird. The conclusion in particular is kind of bizarre. It's ostensibly a conclusion but ultimately ends up being a 5-8 page, extremely surface-level discussion of gender in K-Pop that proposes a whole new term to describe it, before wrapping without any real discussion of how this relates to the rest of the material. It was really weird and left me with the impression that the author wrote all of these studies separately and then just...put them into one book without really considering how to connect them.

As I kind of hinted at before, the author's writing doesn't help matters. Jung is extremely repetitive, using phrases like "in this chapter I will" and "in this chapter I have shown" over and over again without a ton of synthesis. In other words, she repeats what she has just said a lot, but doesn't really synthesize what she said or explore the broader implications of it.

I still think this is an interesting read, particularly if you are really into transcultural consumption which, for the record, I think the author has the strongest grasp on. But, it definitely fell short of my expectations and left me a little frustrated by the author lol. Not the worst but, not the best.

[Annabelle Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un ensayo súper interesante sobre las masculinidades surcoreanas explicadas mediante el análisis de varias celebridades y un personaje de ficción. El libro ya tiene sus años, pero a la luz del tremendo crecimiento que ha tenido últimamente la industria del entretenimiento en Corea del Sur y su expansión por todo el mundo, me parece que su contenido sigue siendo vigente y al final, hasta profético.

[sofía · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the perspective of Gender Studies, I think this book is very original and relevant in its contributions. The author demonstrates how femininity and, in this specific case, masculinity really are historical constructions.

By diving into Korean history all the way up to the Joseon period, Sun Jung argues three types of Korean masculinity (soft, global and postmodern), which are depicted and embodied in cultural products, such as series, films, artists, and literature, exported regionally to Asia and globally to the Western market in the context of Hallyu (Korean wave), a tide dating back to the dawn of the 21st century.

Overall, I fell in with Jung's arguments, theoretical framework and examples. Plus, although the book was written more than a decade ago, the main argument remains current, specially in the rise of social media and the erasure of cultural boundaries.

[Messayu Syahayuniar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sun Jung menjelaskan maskulinitas sebagai maskunitas lembut (soft masculinity) dengan mencontohkan karakter yang terkenal dalam industri hiburan hallyu seperti Bae Yoong Jun, Rain, dan idola lainnya seperti 2PM. Fenomena Bae Yong Jun yang banyak menuai pujian berkat kesuksesan perannya dan drama Winter Sonata telah menunjukkan bagaimana fenomena budaya massa atau budaya populer telah mempengaruhi secara massal dengan mediumnya. Bae Yong Jun terkenal dengan perannya sebagai lelaki yang tabah, lembut, dan sabar hingga ia dipuja oleh banyak perempuan. Karakter ini menunjukkan representasi laki-laki dan tentunya maskulinitas yang dibawa sebagai sebuah diferensiasi dari karakter lainnya seperti dari Hollywood dan bahkan dari serial televisi negara lainnya yang dianggap penuh dengan sifat kasar, kekerasan, dan seks dalam sebuah hubungan. Bae Yong Jun justru menampilkan sebaliknya dan kesuksesannya seolah mengantarkan pada nostalgia nilai-nilai kesopanan dalam sebuah hubungan laki-laki dan perempuan yang ditampilkan oleh sebuah media massa.

Fenomena ini menurut jejak sejarah, maskulinitas Korea Selatan sangat dipengaruhi kuat oleh paham Konfusius yang telah ada sejak Korea masih bernama Joseon. Paham Konfusius yang menekankan kedinamisan hubungan antar manusia seperti majikan-bawahan, orang tua-anak, hingga laki-laki-perempuan sangatlah mempengaruhi bentuk maskulinitas lembut pada laki- laki Korea hingga klimaks dari representasi ini muncul melalui Winter Sonata.

Tak heran jika kita sering menyaksikan drama Korea banyak sekali laki-laki yang ditampilkan dengan sifat manja, imut, lucu (aegyo) sebagai gambaran dari maskulinitas lembut. Bahkan istilah flower boys merupakan fenomena yang berakar dari maskulinitas produk sejarah Korea yang bercampur dengan transformasi masyarakat kontemporer Korea Selatan terutama pasca krisis IMF. Kondisi maskulinitas lembut Korea Selatan dewasa ini sangat kompleks seiring dengan semakin populernya hallyu. Idola laki-laki banyak sekali yang tampil dengan paket lengkap seperti macho, six packs sekaligus dengan senyuman yang manis dan tentunya sifat-sifat tersebut dibentuk tidak terlepas dari masa training mereka sebelum debut. Paket lengkap ini tentunya telah menjadi bahan komodifikasi khas Korea Selatan.

Melalui buku ini, Sung Jung menyampaikan maskulinitas lembut Korea Selatan adalah sebuah konsekuensi yang muncul akibat percampuran sosio historis dan kultural serta komodifikasi dari adopsi nilai-nilai luar seiring dengan meningkatnya popularitas hallyu.

[Andre · Rating 2 out of 5]

I already had my issues at the start with this writing style. Sometimes it is fine and I have no problem understanding what is going on, but then I really have to think hard about what the author writes/quotes. But sadly it was omen of things to come and I quickly quit this book. At first there was this odd language where I understand the word but I could barely make sense out of the sentences, later on the topic of korean masculinities the language was better but it was so dry that in 1.5 weeks I only advanced 29 pages, that is a clear sign to stop.

[Pedro Muzquiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Academic, daring and not outdated in 2020. It is visionary in predicting the idol fandom today (2020) and might regain some more readership and follow up scholarship due to the success of Parasite and Burning. A must for any SCHOLAR who wants to know more about manufactured gender and sexual constructions. It is not for the general audience. Hoping this might become a visual essay. Bravo!

[Shannon]

Raaaaaain.

[Syahayuniar Messayu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth it !! Recommended for you if you wondering Korean Masculinity construction by postmodern framework through hallyu discourse.