The returning of Hallyu in China: transnational reception of the Korean drama My Love from the Star

Abstract

My Love from the Star, the hit Korean drama has led to the revival of the Hallyu boom in China in 2013. After conducting a textual analysis of 100 reviews on Douban, the results of this study indicate that urban middle class audiences in China are attracted by the beauty of the actors and the conservative romantic storyline, and admire individual pursuits of free love and career success depicted in the drama. However, they are dissatisfied with the stereotypical gender relations and criticize the drama’s aim of securing the submission of women to male domination. The results illustrate that cultural proximity is not only related to the audiences’ cultural background, but also determined by the social class and lived experiences. As the major consumers of Hallyu 2.0 have switched to the open-minded young generation, the production of Korean dramas which maintains the traditional patriarchal ideologies is facing challenges ahead.

Contested fandom and nationalism: How K-Pop fans perform political consumerism in China

“…China has also been witnessed as one of the regions where Hallyu first gained its popularity, exemplified by the megahits of Korean TV dramas within the country in the late 20 th centuries (E-Y. Jung, 2009; Shao, 2019; Shim, 2008). However, the K-pop surge also coincides with several waves of anti-Hallyu movements within the country.…”

Gender Essentialism in Chinese Reality TV: A Case Study of You Are So Beautiful

“…It is important to note that the marketization of the TV industry by no means suggests that broadcasters can operate outside of the CCP's political control (Shao 2019). The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), 2 which represents the most important regulatory body, supervises all forms of TV production within the country (Hu and Wang 2020).…”

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“…Researchers like J. Ahn (2014) and L. Shao (2019) While Chinese-language literature on Hallyu is consistent with the English-language literature, it emphasizes Hallyu in China. Empirical research on Hallyu's reception and audiences is scant.…”

“…postulated that the popularity of TV dramas, TV programs, and K-pop idol groups among young Chinese who commonly use video streaming sites resulted in the resurgence of Hallyu in China in 2013. Korean TV drama My Love from the Star (KR: Pyŏresŏ on kŭdae, CN: Laizi xingxing de ni) was very popular, as audienceswere attracted by the beautiful actors, conservative romantic storyline as well as the main characters' pursuit of love and career success on the one hand, and the criticisms vis-à -vis the portrayals of patriarchal ideologies on the other (L Shao, 2019)…”

“…. As seen in the Chinese audiences' responses to My Love from the Star, the cultural proximity thesis does not fully explain the spread or popularity of Hallyu (L Shao, 2019)…”