This dissertation illustrates the cultural dimension of globalization by examining how the ascendance of South Korean popular culture, i.e., the Korean Wave, reshapes the global imagination and transforms the locality of Korean Americans in Philadelphia. As an ethnographic global media study, I conducted in-depth interviews and participated in Korean cultural events/meetings, as well as visited the sites of living for Korean Americans in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. My research finds that advances in the digitalized media environment made my informants consume copious transnational Korean media every day and individualized their media consumption. Accordingly, their perceptions of Korea/Asia/U.S.’s places in the world are complicated and their ethnic identity has become significant. Their global imaginations also intersect with negotiating gender roles, perceiving attractiveness, and planning future paths. This shift contributes to construction of the in-between identities of Korean Americans by denaturalizing ideas and cultural elements in both Korea and the U.S. Most distinctively, the rise of the Korean Wave stimulates global imagination among young second generation Korean Americans to aspire to and operate their agency in a transnational context that their parents’ generation barely anticipated. Finally, the upsurge of the Korean Wave drives Korean Americans to participate in transforming localities rooted in thickened connectivities and activities centering on Korean popular culture across intra/inter-ethnic groups locally and globally. This conversely facilitates intense engagement and belonging in the local spaces of community among Korean Americans. My study shows how transnational media flow under conditions of globalization positively influences immigrants to embrace their own ethnic identities and local spaces. On the other hand, it implies that there should be further examination of different boundaries of global imagination rooted in gender/class differences as well as race/ethnicity. / Media & Communication

台灣與韓國過去曾多年在經濟產業與運動競賽交手，也因雙方在各層面的競合關係，導致大多數的台灣民眾對韓國觀感較差，然而此一情況在近二十年來因為韓國流行文化「韓流」進入台灣以後有所改變。 在台灣，韓流帶來的熱潮無所不在，從網上論壇的討論到電視螢幕上的瘋狂播放可見一斑。然而對於大多數以女性為主的韓流迷族群，在韓流熱潮中卻被媒體描述為瘋狂、失去理智的受害者，在日常生活中也必須面對來自他者的敵意。為進一步探討此一現象，本研究將著眼於研究女性韓流迷在日常生活中面對反韓情緒的經驗，了解她們的應對策略。 透過與12位女性韓流迷訪談，本研究發現：首先，即使女性韓流迷透過參與、消費韓流文化學習到相當可觀與韓國有關的知識，但卻難以將此一知識與反韓他者分享；再者，即便雙方並無直接交戰或其他歷史上敵對的背景，台灣的反韓情緒主要來自於媒體不斷操作的結果，形成代代相傳的集體意識；最後，對於反韓群眾而言，反韓情緒就像是一種「微型國族主義」，即使雙方無真正交戰敵對關係，卻能供給台灣反韓群眾抒發與韓國競爭所帶來的焦慮一處出口。 / Taiwan and South Korea have a long-time history competing with each other in sports and industries. Due to these competitions, most Taiwanese people dislike South Korea. However, in the two recent decades, the Korean Wave has gradually become globally recognized and has won a place in the Taiwanese market. In Taiwan, the hype of the Korean Wave can be seen from music programs on TV to the discussion forums on the Internet. Korean Wave fans, most of whom are female, have been portrayed in a maniacal and negative way in the meddled coverage by Taiwanese media. These fans not only need to endure discrimination by the media, but also in their daily interactions with other people who hold anti-Korean attitudes. This study intends to discuss how Korean Wave fans confront anti-Korean attitudes in their daily experiences. Through the interviews of twelve female fans, the study has found, first, that even though these fans learned valuable knowledge about South Korea during their participation in the Korean Wave, that great amount of knowledge is difficult to share or persuade the anti-Korean people who confront them. Second, the nationalistic antagonism towards South Korea has surged in Taiwan for decades, yet, there is no specific historic reason for Taiwanese people to be hostile towards South Korea. Under this circumstance, the nationalistic antagonism toward South Korea in Taiwan still existed as a kind of collective memory from generation to generation thanks to the news media. For those anti-Korean Taiwanese, the nationalistic antagonism may serve as a kind of petty nationalism that expresses their anxiety in facing and competing with South Korea.

韓國流行音樂（K-Pop）逐漸在世界各地展露頭角，在台灣更使得哈日風潮逐漸被取代，成為最暢銷的外語專輯。本研究欲探討韓國流行音樂如何進軍以台灣為首的大中華市場，希望藉由Super Junior的例子，找出K-Pop成功行銷的秘訣。 經研究發現，不論是S.M.或是avex taiwan的規劃，種種努力皆是以「華語歌手、藝人」的角度來生產「在地偶像」，希望減少觀眾對Super Junior所代表「韓國」的印象，進而在華語流行音樂市場中創立新偶像。 / Korean Pop Music (K-Pop) gradually gained popularity around the world and became the most popular foreign pop music genre in Taiwan in 2009, replacing the long dominating Japanese Pop Music. The purpose of this study is to investigate how K-Pop entered the Greater China market by looking at the marketing strategy of Super Junior in Taiwan. The major finding of this dissertation is that all of S.M. and avex taiwan’s efforts were directed to making Super Junior a “local idol” in Taiwan. In other words, they wanted Super Junior to be a Chinese pop music star. These two companies tried to reduce the Korean impressions on Super Junior, and tried to create a new idol group in the Chinese pop music market.

Within both academic environment and political circles internationally too much emphasis is placed on military and economic power and too little to soft power. While, according to Nye, out of the three modes of political power soft power has the greatest potential to deal with critical global issues and foster multilateral co-operation among states its application is usually severely restricted to co-ordination issues due to various preconceived positivistic assumptions on the part of both political scientists and political decision-makers. This descriptive-analytical MA thesis aims at re-interpreting and therefore extending the legitimacy of soft power by means of thoroughly analysing South Korea’s soft power wielding experience. In order to achieve the objective above the paper sets itself the following tasks: (a) to provide a concise introduction into Nye’s discourse on soft power; (b) to provide a concise historical overview of the development and spread of South Korea’s popular culture; (c) to reveal the uniqueness of South Korea’s soft power content; (d) to highlight the singularity of South Korea’s soft power wielding strategies; (e) to practically apply South Korea’s soft power wielding experience in terms of revising the existing soft power theory. The most thought-provoking aspects about South Korea’s soft power wielding with special reference to South Korea’s soft power content are the following: (a) as its crucial soft power resource South Korea chose the most... [to full text] / Šis magistro darbas „Pietų Korėjos švelniosios galios ypatumai: Pietų Korėjos dramos ir filmo kaip Pietų Korėjos populiariosios kultūros bangos segmentų vaidmuo“, kuris pasitelkia diskriptyvų ir analitinį tyrimo metodus, tyrinėja Pietų Korėjos dramas ir filmus Pietų Korėjos populiariosios kultūros bangos kontekste per švelniosios galios prizmę. Tiek akademiniuose tiek politiniuose diskursuose tarptautiniu mastu pernelyg daug dėmesio yra skiriama karinei ir ekonominei galiai ir per mažai švelniajai. Džozefas Nai teigia, kad būtent pastaroji galios rūšis, t.y. švelnioji galia, turinti neišnaudoto politinio potencialo, kuris gali būti panaudotas spręsti įvairias opias tarptautines problemas. Šio darbo tikslas yra remiantis sėkmingu Pietų Korėjos švelniosios galios akumuliacijos pavyzdžiu pamėginti iš naujo interpretuoti švelniosios galios sąvoką ir išplėsti jos politinį legitimumą. Atitinkami išsikelti uždaviniai yra šie: (a) sintezuoti Džozefo Nai diskursą apie švelniąją galią; (b) išanalizuoti Pietų Korėjos populiariosios kulūros vystymąsi ir plėtrą iš istorinės perspektyvos telkiantis ties populiariaisiais Pietų Korėjos drama ir filmu; (c) atskleisti populiariųjų Pietų Korėjos dramos ir filmo kaip esminių Pietų Korėjos švelniosios galios resursų unikalumą; (d) atskleisti Pietų Korėjos vyriausybinių strategijų siekiant akumuliuoti švelniąją galią unikalumą; (e) pasiūlyti konkrečias konceptualias kryptis, kurių laikantis būtų galima papildyti Džozefo Nai diskursą apie... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

本文研究的目的嘗試回答「在以國族認同的現實中，東亞流行文化的交流是否能使東亞國家成為一個想像中的共同體，進而創造一個令人嚮往認同的東亞認同？」。在理論層次上，本研究認為一個想像中的東亞共同體可以建立在亞洲閱聽人對東亞國家間混種流行文化產品的消費上，東亞共同體代表了形形色色的生活型態，並結合傳統、現代及後現代的價值觀。為了要找出混種的文化實踐能否建構東亞認同，必須探討這些文化實踐在社會及歷史的情境中各種既有的連接方式。 本研究發現，在消費進口流行文化的情境下，消費混種流行文化文本不僅能提供消費者反思社會議題，同時也讓生產者理解其他國家如何產製產品的機會。此外，大眾媒體藉由討論國家主義，試圖干預閱聽人對他國文化產品的消費行為。當審視東亞流行文化實踐之間所發生複雜的互動關係，本研究也發現構想東亞認同應該是想要面對並克服各種非民主及壓制的力量，而非去認同其所定位的文化內容。 / National identity has traditionally played a central role in shaping a person’s views and beliefs. However, is it possible that we are moving towards a new paradigm, where exchanges of popular culture in East Asia make it possible to visualize an integrated East Asia bloc and connect with a broader East Asian identity? On the theoretical level, we contend that the new East Asian image is being cultivated by the commonality of consuming hybridized popular culture products exchanged among East Asia countries, which represent various shapes and forms of cultural memes, which are ingrained in tradition and values of modernity and post－modernity. In order to find out whether hybrid cultural practices can constitute the basis for the establishment of an 「East Asian identity」 with the potential to change the current landscape in power relations, we need to investigate concrete ways in which specific cultural practices are articulated in the social and historical contexts. In the context of the consumption of imported popular cultural products, the experience of hybrid popular culture products provides the consumer with an opportunity to critically reflect on the problems in their society as well as gaining an insight into the foreign country producing the product. For the part of audiences enjoying other Asian cultural products, some make use of the cultural products as symbolic capital as a way of distinguishing themselves from other users.

Au cours de cette étude, nous avons cherché  à déterminer le niveau et les moyens de la puissance sud-coréenne. Nous nous sommes demandés si la Corée du Sud ne pourrait pas se présenter comme un État pivot capable de faire le lien entre des états ou des partenaires antagonistes, aussi bien en Asie du Nord-Est qu’en Asie du Sud-Est. Aussi après avoir examiné les moyens de la puissance sud-coréenne nous avons conclu que le pays était une puissance moyenne traditionnelle n’ayant pas encore acquis le statut de puissance régionale et qu’en ce sens elle constituait une puissance atypique. Confrontée aux trois grandes puissances que sont la Chine, les Etats-Unis et le Japon, la Corée du Sud ne dispose que d’une marge de manœuvre très étroite pour affirmer sa présence internationale. Le développement de sa présence en Asie du Sud-Est est donc devenu en l’espace de quelques années un impératif de sa politique étrangère du pays. A l’instar du Japon d’après-guerre, le Sud-Est asiatique constitue une aire d’apprentissage privilégiée pour la diplomatie sud-coréenne et pour son action extérieure. / In this study, we tried to determine the exact level and means of the South Korean power. We wondered if South Korea could present itself as a pivotal state that is able to bridge antagonistic partners, both in Northeast and Southeast Asia. After considering the aspects of the South Korean power we concluded that the country is a traditional middle size power that has not yet acquired the status of regional power. In that sense the country is an untypical power. Facing three major powers such as China, the United States and Japan, South Korea has only a very narrow latitude to establish its international presence. Therefore developing its presence in Southeast Asia has become in just a few years an priority of its foreign Policy. For South Korea Southeast Asia is a privileged place where to learn and to develop its own external action, like it was for the post war Japan. Eventually, a unified Korea with the North Korean nuclear arsenal could weigh as much as demographically declining Japan. However as long as the anachronism of the separation will remain, South Korea will continue to grow alone regionally and in the international stage and will seek for external alliances.

The thesis shows soft power as one of the most effective strategies of global leadership. Through different methodological concepts author tries to classify instruments of soft power and surmount conceptual contradictions. The research of soft power’s political, cultural and economic instruments is based on the integrate analysis of South Korean foreign policy. Author tries to find the way to increase Republic of Korea geopolitical influence through the most powerful “soft” instruments. / В работе рассматривается комплекс методологических подходов к анализу концепта «мягкой силы» как одного из наиболее эффективных инструментов глобального влияния современных государств. Автор предлагает оригинальную классификацию ресурсов «мягкой силы» и новые пути преодоления концептуальных противоречий. На основе анализа внешней политики Республики Корея автор раскрывает специфику политических, экономических и культурных стратегий «мягкого» влияния указанной страны. Автор выявляет сильные и слабые стороны внешней политики Республики Корея, предлагает методы увеличения влияния южнокорейской «мягкой силы» на мировой арене.