Korean dramas have become increasingly complex polysemic texts that allow
for differing interpretations of social reality. Indeed, there is a growing concern
among policy-makers and academics that such dramas might shape the attitudes of young Koreans in a way that does not reproduce the agenda of the
nation-state in developingproductivity.In a 2010 study Jin and Jeong examined
the effect of South Korean drama consumption on the perceived prevalence of
single life and having fewer children in married life. The authors found that 15
per cent of all dramas aired between 2005 and 2007 portrayed single living and
career women's childless life in a positive light (Jin and Jeong 2010, 29). They
argue that there is a correlation between this positive portrayal on television
and the perceived prevalence of having fewer children. Their study was developed amid a growing concern that soaps and dramas 'contributed to an anti-
baby mood depicting single-life as "cool" and raising children as a "burden"'
(Jin and Jeong 2010, 17). As a result, the authors conclude by recommending
that 'health-policy makers need to encourage television drama writers to be
more considerate in producing television soap contents, and strive to highlight
the preciousness of married life, family, and raising children via television' (Jin
and Jeong 2010, 30). Irrespective of whether or not one would support Jin and
Jeong'srecommendations,btheir very concern under scores the fact that second-wave dramas run counter to hegemonic cultural narratives of the 'traditional'
productive family, highlighting the critical role that these dramas play in contemporary Korean society. Certainly for second-wave Korean dramas we need
to move beyond the simplistic notion that 'ideological messages constitute a
key component of Hallyu' (Tran 2015, 58).
When the first author originally started working on this project as a visiting
professor in a Korean university, he had the opportunity to discuss the project
with senior male Korean colleagues. His colleagues were somewhat bemused
and they were clearly not convinced by the validity of the project. One of the
professors actually felt comfortable enough to offer some heartfelt advice: 'If
you want to know what Korean people think then use literature, not tv dra-
mas.' Needless to say, he personally did not watch any dramas. Popular culture
and melodrama have a long history of being considered either as an inferior
form of culture or as a form of dangerous alienation.This critique has also been
extended to Korean dramas. From our experience, audiences of Korean dramas are far too often dismissed through (misogynistic?) clichés. In our paper
we have sought to show that there has been a quiet revolution in the domain
of Korean drama which shows a far more complex reality than has been generally assumed. As such, we cannot support the conclusion that we are facing
'weak-minded audiences' brainwashed by fantastical situations (Tran 2015, 59).
As we have shown in our study, Korean dramas are used to critically reflect,
or indeed to communicate, the social problems facing their audiences rather
than reproducing hegemonic ideals.5 Our informants did not seek to escape
reality through dramas but paradoxically turned to dramas in order to expose
the inconvenient realities of Korean society, which included themes such as
corruption, societal pressures in education and problems facing women and
young people. Indeed, all of our informants were critical of dramas which were
considered too mello (melodramatic) and such dramas were often derided as
being mak jang (unrealistic).
While the Korean government has been keen to highlight the international
success of Korean dramas, it is important to remember that such dramas are
produced first for a domestic audience. We would argue that Korean dramas
are primarily domestic texts produced by and for a Korean society. Focusing on
the meanings and role of Korean dramas for an international audience might
occlude the meanings of a cultural text. Korean dramas cannot be reduced to
their 'Hallyuisation'. How a drama is viewed and what it means can change dramatically when comparing the international audience with the domestic one.
The meanings of the text cannot be understood outside the cultural context
of its production and consumption. In turn, the reasons for their popularity
overseas and their domestic appeal may very well be markedly different.While
focusing on the international success of Korean drama might serve a broader
geo-political or economic purpose at underscoring the global success of the
Korean cultural industries, the way that we have encountered these texts arose
from the lives of our Korean informants embedded in Korean social realities.
We would even go a step further: as shown in our discussion, these dramas
are texts which are ultimately embedded in highly localised referents (My id
is Gangnam Beauty, sky Castle), highly localised contexts of class and gender
which attest to the fact that these are texts produced primarily for a domes-
tic audience. It is only in a moment of secondary elaboration that these texts
become signifiers of an imagined Korea consumed by international audiences.
Existing studies of Hallyu have already shown us how Korean drama can speak
to very specific cultural contexts of modernity where race and class are implicated in complex ways (B.M. Han 2019; Hong 2013; Hu 2010). Future studies
might seek to create a more focused comparison between the domestic interpretation of a text and its international audience. It is time to turn the tide of
Hallyu studies back to its local context. It is only then that we can truly appreciate the impact and reach of the globalisation of Korean drama. At the very least
we can then begin to appreciate the agency of these Korean young women and
recover their voice in a way that challenges the often misogynistic understanding of their viewership.