Korean TV Dramas and the Selling of Place by Youjeong
Spectacular Cities, Speculative Storytelling: Korean TV Dramas and the Selling of Place By Youjeong Oh A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor You-tien Hsing, Chair Professor Richard A. Walker Professor Barrie Thorne Professor Paul E. Groth Fall 2013 Abstract Spectacular Cities, Speculative Storytelling: Korean TV Dramas and the Selling of Place By Youjeong Oh Doctor of Philosophy in Geography University of California, Berkeley Professor You-tien Hsing, Chair This dissertation examines the relationships between popular culture, cities, and gendered social discourses, with a focus on contemporary Korean television dramas. Existing studies about Korean dramas have relied upon economic and cultural analysis to, in effect, celebrate their vibrant export to overseas markets and identify why they are popular in other East Asian countries. This study expands the scope into spatial and social realms by examining cities’ drama-sponsorship and drama-driven social activities. Deploying popular culture as an analytical category directly shaping and transforming material, urban and social conditions, I argue that the cultural industry of Korean television dramas not only functions as its own, dynamic economic sector, but also constitutes urban processes and social discourses of contemporary South Korea. Drawing upon interdisciplinary methods including ethnography and content analysis, I examine Korean television dramas from the multiple vantage points of producers, audience, storytelling, and city-sponsorship, and elucidate why and how these four arenas are deeply intertwined. Their mutual entanglement, in turn, requires us to see Korean television dramas as more than just commercial entertainment; they become a medium through which we can contemplate labor conditions in the cultural industry, the political economies of development in regional cities, and gender politics in Korea.
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