Foreign but familiar: Hallyu spaces and K-culture in urban Hanoi, a walking and participant observation study

Abstract

ABSTRACT For over two decades, South Korean pop culture has occupied the Vietnamese' cultural lives as it has conquered numerous other markets, giving rise to the global cultural phenomenon of the Korean Wave, or Hallyu. While Hallyu has spread across Vietnam, businesses serving made-in-Korea or (mimicking) “Korean-style” products and services have also developed in many of its cities, including the capital, Hanoi. Tracing the “Hallyu spaces” which such businesses constitute, this article explores the extent and patterns of those spaces and how they fit into the day-to-day flows of Hanoi and its residents' consumerist lives. It focuses on two main areas of discussion: the kinds of Korean (or Korean-inspired) products and services on offer and the locations in which these are found. Using a combination of methods, including walking, participant observation, photo-taking, mapping, casual interviews, and digital ethnography, the study contributes to the scholarship on the urban spaces and consumption practices in Hanoi and the cultural exchange between Vietnam and South Korea. It reveals how Hallyu spaces add to Hanoi's experience economy as well as the conspicuous and seeping effects of Hallyu in urban Hanoi and Vietnam. Theoretically, the study advances the conceptualisation of “K-culture” and “global Koreanness” in Hallyu studies.