Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Sound cassette contains 30 songs. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-126).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-212).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 210-213).

Thesis (Ph. D)--University of Rochester, 2009. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references. Digitized version available online via the Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music http://hdl.handle.net/1802/11554

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: A, page: 1590. Adviser: Charles Capwell. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 361-395) and discography (leaves 361-362) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

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This study starts by offering an account of the multi-faceted ongins of sentimentality, and its importance as an innovative and influential cultural force. The origins of commercial popular song and the high period of sentimentalism are contiguous, and it is argued that a sentimental tradition in popular song develops alongside those in the more familiar areas of literature and painting. The sentimental song tradition includes both secular and sacred lyrics, and it is shown, significantly, that modern hymnody (which has informed much subsequent secular popular music) has sentimental roots. The tradition is traced sequentially via the work of the key sentimental lyricists until the mid-nineteenth century when the increasing volume and variety of British and American popular song makes such a historical approach less feasible. The thesis then analyses favourite sentimental song lyric motifs as they occur in different types of popular song at different times, and two particularly well-defined aspects of the repertoire - the Irish sentimental song and lyrics about the hereafter - are explored in terms of how they offer alternative realities. Sentimental song, because of its didactic origins, has always been concerned with achieving effects - typically producing tears - rather than being original. Its use of a limited pool of stock themes to this end makes it a cultural product that is easy to 'manufacture', and it has a ready audience because it affords a pleasurable indulgence - often a characteristic 'happiness in unhappiness' - while at the same time giving proof of sensibility (and, in the eighteenth century, proof of moral and aesthetic probity). The continuing appeal of sentimental popular song is explained in terms of its aptness in extreme social and personal situations, as well as its ability to offer a heart-warming alternative to more objective or despairing views of the world.

The aesthetic of ‘cuteness' in South Korean popular music (known as K-pop) is a pivotal concept in Korean media and culture and is frequently used to describe performances by both male and female K-pop groups. Aegyo is a fundamental part of this aesthetic, also called ‘K-cute', and it refers to the behaviour of ‘acting cute' that denotes a particular coquettish style not only in K-pop but also in South Korean society in a broader sense. This thesis explores K-pop performance from the mid-2000s to the 2010s through an examination of K-pop artists' training process, an analysis of K-pop music videos' lyrical and visual codes and a study of notable live performances. The aesthetic of ‘cuteness' in K-pop is contextualised through a historical and cultural review of South Korea and the forms through which aegyo has been represented. Thus, we see how aegyo has evolved in response to gender stereotyping in both traditional and contemporary South Korean society and how it has come to represent a unique idea of Korean-ness expressed in a cultural form that also fulfils its potential for flexibility. Furthermore, this thesis investigates how the K-pop industry influences aegyo through issues of gender and sexuality, primarily examining Richard Schechner's performance theory and Erving Goffman's notion of self-presentation. A significant aspect of this investigation is the sexualisation of K-pop idol boy and girl groups through the deliberate adoption of the aegyo aesthetic, a process that forms a key part of the marketing strategy behind their ‘Korean wave' global success. Finally, I explore mediatised performances of aegyo and the possibility that remediation, as outlined by Bolter and Grusin, provides a potent vehicle for the repetition and reinforcement of ‘cuteness' via holographic and digitalised K-pop performances.

Thesis (doctoral)--University of London, 2001. / BLDSC reference no.: DX222637.

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