Hallyu: new politico- cultural discourse in East Asia?

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Introduction The popularity of Hallyu (South Korean popular culture) in Japan sets us three puzzles. First, does it really mean that Japanese women in their 40s and over have overcome cultural and ethnic animosity towards South Koreans as a result of the mass consumption of Hallyu, including TV dramas, films, music, food, video games and animation? Second, if it does, does the Hallyu boom represent a rupture in post-war East Asian cultural history which will unite Japan, Korea and the greater China culturally (i.e. one universal East Asian popular culture)? Finally, why is the Hallyu boom occurring in the post-Cold War and postindustrial era? What is special about South Korea and its popular culture in the twenty-first century? These questions directly tackle the applicability of Victor Cha’s model (and its revised version) discussed in detail by Professor Soderberg in the introductory chapter of this book. The first question is really about the identity of Japanese Hallyu consumers and is based on an unreasonable assumption. Individual or group entertainment choices do not necessarily change people’s understanding of the ‘other’. Watching Denzel Washington films, for example, would rarely change viewers’ perception of African Americans. The influence of local religion, local reconstructs of global culture, social networks and class relations on the identity of the consumers of culture is still strong.2 Nonetheless, the popularity of Hallyu among middle-aged Japanese women, who were once considered the group of people least likely to love anything related to Korea, has aroused curiosity about this first question among many researchers. A key concern in this regard therefore is whether the Japanese middle-aged women have really overcome their ethnic animosity, and if they have, how.3 The second question is anchored in relatively plausible assumptions. If people in a particular region, such as East Asia, start to consume a particular cultural product, such as Hallyu, in mass quantities, this may possibly lead to the shaping of a new cultural ideology or fad that can unite East Asians culturally, regardless of their nationality, ethnic rivalries and traditional local values. A crucial historical example is the Renaissance and the Enlightenment movement that swept through Europe and eventually shaped a Eurocentric ideology for all Europeans.