Analog Hallyu: Historicizing K-pop formations in China

Abstract

This article will revisit the beginnings of the spread of Korean popular entertainment in China in the mid-1990s to early 2000s by examining the contents of previously untapped Chinese language popular entertainment magazines and public recollections on internet forums. Considered here as critical archival resources, the authors argue that these materials are instrumental in offering both new chronologies and insights to the circulatory process of the regionalization of Korean popular cultures or Hallyu. Korean popular music (hereafter K-pop) entered China after the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Instead of the often singularized, culturalist argument of “shared traditions,” this article offers a more dynamic historiography of the Korean Wave in China that is termed here as “Analog Hallyu.”

East Asian pop music idol production and the emergence of data fandom in China

“…The popularity of K-pop idols in China (Hallyu 1.0) can be traced to the 'normalization' of relations between Korea and China after 1992, which allowed for an expansion of trade and tourism, young people moving to study in China, along with media liberalization facilitating the growth of television ownership (Sun & Liew, 2019). Hallyu gained fans in China from the mid to late 1990s, and K-pop fandom increased after 2008 as the digital and mobile economy rapidly expanded (Zhang & Fung, 2017).…”

K-pop fan labor and an alternative creative industry: A case study of GOT7 Chinese fans

“…This research focuses on the fan labor expended by Chinese fans of the K-pop male idol group GOT7. GOT7, a seven-member K-pop male idol group, is managed by JYP Entertainment and debuted in 2014 in the Mobile Internet Era (Sun & Liew, 2019). The group, still actively performing all over the world (J. K, 2019), comprises multinational members-a common strategy in the K-pop industry, specifically designed to target foreign markets.…”

“…Chinese audiences have been experiencing Hallyu (or the Korean Wave) and K-pop since the 1990s (Sun & Liew, 2019). The spread of K-pop in China occurred in three stages, alongside the changing media environments: the Analog Media Era in 1992–2004, the Pre-mobile Internet Era in 2005–2012, and the Mobile Internet Era 2013-present (Sun & Liew, 2019). As the media environment and government cultural policies changed, Chinese K-pop fans engaged differently with K-pop content through different media and technologies (Chen, 2018; Sun & Liew, 2019; Zhang & Negus, 2020).…”

“…Kim & Lee, 2012). Chinese audiences have been experiencing Hallyu (or the Korean Wave) and K-pop since the 1990s (Sun & Liew, 2019). The spread of K-pop in China occurred in three stages, alongside the changing media environments: the Analog Media Era in 1992-2004, the Pre-mobile Internet Era in 2005-2012 the Mobile Internet Era 2013-present (Sun & Liew, 2019).…”

Internationalising Celebrity Studies: turning towards Asia

“…The Korean Wave (Hallyu) has been widely studied as a prominent example of transnational media and cultural flows within and beyond Asia (Chua and Iwabuchi 2008, Kim 2013, Kuwahara 2014, Jin 2016. Existing scholarship predominantly focuses on the transnational success and fandom of K-drama and K-pop (Han 2017, Sun and Liew 2019, Yoon 2019, Lynch 2020), but the idol training system, production cycle, and perception of idols within South Korea warrants greater scholarly attention. Lee Jong-im's (2018) ground-breaking book, Idol Trainees' Sweat and Tears (in Korean), documents the untold stories behind K-pop idols to criticise their merciless exploitation by the country's cultural and entertainment conglomerates (chaebol).…”