The Lure of Cultural Authenticity: Netflix and Speculative Koreanness in the Global Media Market

Abstract

Despite Netflix’s status as a dominant global streaming service, it is irrefutable that the platform has facilitated the circulation of media content from different national markets to its subscribers around the world. This increased circulation has been accompanied by the platforms’ exploration of local cultures for global audiences. Specifically, Netflix has sought to represent and repackage local cultures in allegedly “authentic” ways. Drawing on a critical analysis of Netflix’s industry discourses, interviews with Korean content creators, and a textual analysis of the original Korean series Squid Game (2021–present), the article explores how Netflix formulates and disseminates its lore of cultural authenticity as a distinct brand to enhance its international presence. We argue that Netflix’s branding of original Korean series as culturally authentic, further grounded in a particular mode of portraying Korean culture for imagined global (non-Korean) audiences, involves representational practices of what we refer to as speculative Koreanness.