Korean dramas, circulation of affect and digital assemblages

Abstract

The Korean-language dramatic TV series produced in South Korea, known as K-drama, signify certain affects and values around the national brand “Korea.” K-drama has become a visible new “trend” of cultural consumption in the United States and its popularity has reached far beyond the Korean American population. This chapter examines K-drama’s popularity in the United States that revolves around affect, branding and circulation, and the multidirectional synergies among these three factors. It delineates K-drama’s affective qualities and intensities and how they influence South Korea’s brand images, and how those images are circulated through digital spaces assembled by K-drama fans, which can be called “digital assemblages.” The proliferation and sustainability of the digital assemblages rely on the K-drama fans’ affective labor, which, in turn, creates affective connections to South Korea through their consumption of other cultural and commodity products, education and even transnational migration.