Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Department of Media Studies and Journalism

Valuing Korean Drama

The Czech audiences’ consumption of cultural values reflected on Korean TV dramas

Diploma Thesis

MgA. Eva Kolovrátková

Supervisor: Tae-Sik Kim, Ph.D.

Brno 2018

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………….

Brno 3. 1. 2018

Acknowledgement

I would like to express my gratitude to Tae-Sik Kim, Ph.D., who spent a two long years questioning if I’ll ever finish this work, however still tried to couch me through it. He didn’t give me the guidelines rather he let me to find my way. It was accompanied by a lot of hardship, confusion and several times I’ve lost the right direction, however it was worth it since I’ve learned a lot through these past two years. I also made a good friend, which I will always be grateful for.

I am also so much thankful to my respondents; I would be never able to finish this study if it wouldn’t be for them, for their time they kindly given me, for their honest talk with me, for being open and friendly with me. I am still in contact with many of them and I hope our life paths will continue to cross and I will be able to stay in contact with them.

Lastly I want to thank for all the support coming from the people close to me, my family, my friends, my co-workers. To know that I am surrounded by people who believed in me made me try and work harder.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION ...... 8 II. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ...... 11 1 Korean Drama ...... 11 1.1 Soap Opera versus Korean Drama ...... 13 1.2 Typology of Korean Drama, Genres and Format ...... 14 1.3 Popularity of Korean Drama ...... 16 1.4 Introduction to Dramaworld ...... 17 1.5 Drama Goes Global ...... 19 1.5.1 Television Dramas: Transnational Products ...... 19 1.5.2 Consuming Cultural Values: The Case of Americanisation ...... 21 1.5.3 Consuming Cultural Values: The Cases in the World Context ...... 22 1.6 Korean Drama Goes Global ...... 23 1.6.1 Market Expansion: Korean Drama Reaches the Western World ...... 23 1.6.2 Accessibility of Korean Drama ...... 23 1.6.3 Consuming Cultural Values: The Cases in the Context of Korea ...... 24 1.6.4 Academics Missing Opportunity of Korean Drama ...... 25 2 Czech Audiences...... 26 2.1 Korean Drama in the Czech Republic ...... 26 2.1.1 Fansubbing ...... 27 2.1.2 Academic Focus on Hallyu and Korean Drama Consumption by Czech Audiences ...... 27 3 Designated Values ...... 30 3.1 The Role of Designated Cultural Values in the Process of Transnational Consumption ...... 30 3.2 Comparison of Value Structures of the Czech Republic and Korea on the Basis of Geert Hofstede’s 6-D Model ...... 32 3.3 Extensive Literature Review of Designated Values of Exported Korean Drama ...... 34 3.3.1 Aesthetics ...... 35 3.3.1 Universality, Simplicity and Acceptance ...... 37 3.3.2 Modernity ...... 38 3.3.3 ‘Typical’ Korean ...... 39 3.3.4 Family and ‘Confucianist’ Values ...... 40 3.3.5 Brand of Exotic Fairy Tale ...... 41 3.3.6 Emotions and Korean ‘han’ ...... 42

3.3.7 Femininity ...... 43 3.3.1 Masculinity ...... 43 4 Conclusion ...... 47 III. METHODOLOGY ...... 48 5 Research Design ...... 48 5.1 Research Objectives ...... 48 5.2 Research Questions ...... 48 5.3 Research Methods ...... 49 5.3.1 Grounded Theory in Ethnography ...... 49 5.4 Data Collection ...... 53 5.4.1 Methods of Data Collection ...... 54 5.5 Research Sample ...... 58 5.6 Memo-making ...... 58 5.7 Ethical Principles of Data Collection ...... 59 5.8 Self-reflection and Bias ...... 59 5.9 Data Analysis ...... 60 5.10 Limitations ...... 63 IV. FINDINGS ...... 65 6 Introduction to Studied Czech Audiences ...... 65 7 Values Reflected in the Studied Czech Audiences ...... 69 7.1 ‘Confucianist’ Values ...... 71 7.1.1 Collision of Cultures ...... 71 7.1.2 ‘Comfortable’ before ‘Korean’...... 74 7.2 ‘Typical’ Korean ...... 76 7.2.1 Experiencing the ‘Authentic Korea’: Tasting Korea ...... 76 7.2.2 Experiencing the ‘Authentic Korea’: Talking Korea ...... 78 7.3 Universality ...... 80 7.3.1 Spoiling the Audiences ...... 80 7.4 Exotic Fairy Tale ...... 83 7.4.1 Ontologically Secured Escape from Reality to ‘Familiarly Special’ ...... 83 7.4.2 Declaration of ‘Peculiarity’ ...... 85 7.5 Aesthetics ...... 87 7.5.1 Dream Comes True: Living Korea ...... 87 7.5.2 Asian is ‘Sexy’: Shift in Perception of Beauty ...... 89

7.6 Modernity ...... 92 7.6.1 Meeting the Good Old ‘Western’ Friend ...... 92 7.7 Emotions ...... 94 7.7.1 Even the Prince Cries: Reminder of Emotional-self ...... 94 7.8 Femininity ...... 96 7.8.1 Korean Better Deal: Strong Heroine ...... 96 7.9 Masculinity ...... 98 7.9.1 New Perception of Masculinity ...... 98 7.9.2 Appealing Korean Gender Proximity ...... 103 V. DISCUSSION ...... 106 VI. CONCLUSION ...... 110 VII. REFERENCES ...... 118 VIII. LIST OF TABLES ...... 125 IX. LIST OF FIGURES ...... 125 X. INDEX ...... 126 XI. APPENDIX ...... 128

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Abstract

This ethnographic study deals with the phenomenon of Korean drama. Nine value dimensions were defined through an extensive review of literature: ‘Confucianist’ Values, Universality, Aesthetics, Modernity, Exotic Fairy Tale, Emotions, ‘Typical’ Korean, Femininity, and Masculinity. These dimensions are encompassed in the ‘designated’ values of Korean dramas, and by the consumption of these Korean dramas, they are also projected into the audience’s daily life. These values can influence audiences’ attitudes, opinions and actions. This ethnographic study explores which culturally ‘designated’ values of Korean drama are reflected in the life of Czech audiences and how they are reflected. This study draws on in- depth interviews with twenty-two Czech viewers of Korean dramas.

Keywords South Korea, Korean drama, soap opera, Czech audience, Czech Republic, designated values, cultural values, ethnographic study, in-depth interviews, grounded theory in ethnography, qualitative research

Anotace Diplomová práce se zabývá fenoménem korejského dramatu. Práce nejprve předkládá devět hodnotových dimenzí: ‚konfucianistické‘ hodnoty, univerzalita, estetika, modernita, exotická pohádka, emoce, korejská tradice, feminita, maskulinita, přičemž každá dimenze se skládá z několika ‚designovaných‘ hodnot. Tyto hodnoty jsou součástí korejských dramat, tudíž jsou spolu s nimi konzumovány českými diváky. Práce zkoumá, které kulturní ‚designované‘ hodnoty korejských dramat jsou reflektovány v každodennosti českých diváků a také jakým způsobem. K dosažení výzkumného cíle práce využívá hloubkové rozhovory s dvaadvaceti českými konzumenty korejských dramat.

Klíčová slova Jižní Korea, korejské drama, soap opera, české publikum, Česká republika, designované hodnoty, kulturní hodnoty, kvalitativní výzkum, hloubkové rozhovory, výzkumná práce, zakotvená teorie v etnografii

Total word count: 39 452

I. INTRODUCTION

Korean drama (한국드라마), also abbreviated to K-drama, refers to televised series set in a South Korean cultural, economical and social background. Korean drama stars Korean actors speaking Korean language, and the plot usually takes place in South Korea, very often specifically in the capital – Seoul. Korean drama is a major component of the cultural and social phenomenon commonly called the Korean wave, or Hallyu1 (Kim, 2007). As a format affiliated with soap opera, Korean drama is gaining popularity all over the world. Through its transnational consumption by fans from diverse countries, Korean drama also seems to have an effect on its audiences (Chua and Iwabuchi, 2008). Korean drama has been reaching Czech audiences via online channels since about 2010. The growing phenomenon and its reflection in Czech audiences thus became the objective of this study. The aim of the thesis is to discover the way in which the very specific Korean media content is understood and reflected in Czech audiences. To facilitate the analysis of the aforementioned factors, nine value dimensions were employed within Korean drama: ‘Confucianist’ Values, Universality, Aesthetics, Modernity, Exotic Fairy Tale, Emotions, ‘Typical’ Korean, Femininity, and Masculinity. These aspects stem from a review of the literature and allow the thesis to explore whether and how these value dimensions and Korean drama’s specific ‘designated’ values are reflected in the studied Czech audiences. In the theoretical part, the work provides a contextual framework of Korean drama both in an Asian context and in the context of the Czech Republic. Since this study broaches, for the first, a phenomenon that has been utterly neglected by Czech media studies, extra attention will be paid to contextual framing. The theoretical part consists of three main sections. The first introduces Korean drama, the second discusses Korean drama in the context of a Czech audience, and the third defines the term ‘designated’ values and lists the ‘designated’ values of Korean dramas. Furthermore, transnational consumption is described in the optics of value/impact relations. A review of cross-cultural researches provides insight on

1 The Korean Wave or Hallyu (한류), literally meaning ‘flow of Korea’, sometimes wrongly referred to as the Hallyu wave) refers to the flow of South Korean media and cultural products to the foreign countries, which has enjoyed increasing popularity since the 1990s (Kim, 2007).

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how media products are ‘designated’ to sell certain values, how audiences consume the ‘designated’ values and how the motivation of consuming values is strengthened by the consumption. To obtain valuable and relevant data, a qualitative approach was used. Considering the research objective, an ethnographical exploration was deemed the most suitable approach of choice. This approach was further bolstered by the researcher’s own experience and participation in the phenomenon. The author of this thesis has watched Korean drama and observed the community for approximately eight years. Personal experience can support the data with the necessary depth of understanding. Furthermore, given the ‘foreign’ character of the Korean media content, the researcher’s more thorough knowledge of the studied subject, the environment of the audiences and the set was instrumental in procuring valuable data. To lessen the possible distortion of the data caused by researcher bias, to overcome the lack of theoretical studies of the phenomenon in the context of the Czech Republic, and lastly to provide a more systematic methodology to ethnographically explore the research topic, grounded theory in ethnography was the final method of choice. The data was obtained via twenty-two in-depth interviews with Czech viewers of Korean drama. The final analyses, which also consider Hofstede’s model of national cultural value dimensions (2017), present which ‘designated’ values were not reflected by audiences and which values were reflected by the studied audiences positively, neutrally, and negatively. Through the systematic categorization and comparison of the results, the thesis then explains how the ‘designated’ values of Korean drama are reflected in the life of Czech audiences and specifically by the Czech audiences’ of Korean drama. The paper suggests fourteen theoretical categories resulting from the data analyses, giving possible explanations for how each value dimension penetrates the opinions, attitudes and actions of the respondents. In the final discussion, future possibilities of research are suggested. The limitations of the work are defined, and the findings are discussed in relation to existing literature, thus providing the contextual background for a more complex interpretation of the data.

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Korean drama is a well-known phenomenon in the context of Asian media and cultural studies; the opposite is true for Czech media studies. Perhaps only one quantitative study2 of the Korean wave was conducted in the context of Czech society and none that would focus directly on the phenomenon of Korean drama itself. Likewise, in the last decade there has been only one study3 (dissertation work) targeting soap opera. Soap opera is a product of popular culture that media studies might term ‘low culture’, partly because it targets female audiences. Only a limited portion of this data was assessed as reliable. Therefore, the entry point to the discourse of Asian media studies and the ‘regional’ soap opera is provided by East-Asian regional popular cultural/media flows since the twentieth century and the empirical research of ‘regional’ scholars (Chua and Iwabuchi, 2008); Kim, 2007; Lee, 2008). This paper’s framework of soap opera is also based on the empirical evidence and theories of Euro-American soap opera4 research studies (Ang, 1985; Anger, 1999; Hobson, 2003; Morley, 1980; Radway, 1984; Allen, 1995).

2 The quantitative research of Mazaná (2014) focuses on the consumption of Korean media exports in the context of the Czech Republic.

3 Iva Baslarová (2011) analyses the Czech audiences of the soap opera Rose Garden Surgery in the discourse of gender studies. Several master theses dealing with the soap opera in different contexts were also left out.

4 Besides soap opera, the research includes other typically women-oriented media content.

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II. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1 Korean Drama

Soap opera and Korean drama have much in common. However, there are also some differences that should be mentioned. Initially I considered using the very familiar term Korean soap opera rather than the possibly misleading Korean drama in this thesis. Often, people who are not au fait with Korean drama ask me about the meaning of the notion ‘drama’. Most of my Czech friends I discuss my work with tend to interpret the term ‘drama’ in the context of theatrical stage performances or a specific genre of tragedy5. Therefore, although I appreciate that Korean soap opera would definitely sound more familiar to a broader spectrum of the public, I consider Korean drama more accurate and substantiated. I will therefore briefly explain the format and typology of Korean drama for the benefit of those encountering this topic for the first time, rather than use the well-known but actually misleading term soap opera. In this chapter, I would like to offer a short introduction to the phenomenon of Korean drama. Television started to broadcast dramas during the 1960s6, but this was limited by the military government and the lack of funding and technology. Because of that, until the 1990s, mostly American and Japanese7 series were imported, since Koreans were not able to produce their own (KOCIS, 2011, p 59). The start of Hallyu in the 1990s was brought about by the media export of the Korean drama What is Love All About to China, where the drama was rated as the second-highest watched series in the history of Chinese television (Heo, 2002). However, it was the KBS 20-part drama Winter Sonata that had been the starting point of the

5 This might be because of the generic understanding of the term drama in Europe stemming from literature classes in which Aristotle’s Poetics and his treatment of tragedy are introduced. Therefore a European reader might understand the term drama as being opposed to comedy, which, in the case of Korean drama, would be wrong, since Korean drama is very often funny and employs elements of comedy in almost every plot. There is even a genre called Rom-Com or Romantic Comedy.

6 Korean television broadcasting started in 1956 through HLKZ-TV. Later, after an unfortunate fire, it became part of KBS – Korean Broadcasting System.

7 In 1998, the Korean government started to lift the ban on Japanese popular culture (KOCIS 2011, p. 18).

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nation-wide consumption in 2002; and in 2003, through the satellite channel of NHK, there was even transnational consumption of Korean popular culture in Japan (Chua and Iwabuchi, 2008). The drama had all the ingredients needed: beautiful main protagonists portrayed by Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo, a romantic plot set in the snowy scenery of Nami Island, accompanied by sentimental music. The audience share in Japan reached over 20%8 (KOCIS, 2011, pp. 16, 17). The drama had a significant impact on viewers. It is assumed that by the end of 2004 almost 70% of Japanese viewers had watched at least one episode (ibid, p. 17). The number of Japanese travellers to Korea, some visiting the shooting locations of Winter Sonata, increased rapidly by 35.5% between the time it was aired in Japan and 2004 (Chua and Iwabuchi, 2008, p. 143). As an indication of the great impact of this media-sociological phenomenon, note that these travellers were mostly women, which demonstrates the change of gender dynamics, considering the overwhelming majority of male travellers to the countries of Asia in previous years (ibid). Surprisingly, in view of the complicated historical relationship between the two countries, the follow-up Korean drama that won the hearts of the Japanese was the historical series Jewel in the Palace Elevates9. By 2011, this series had reached 87 countries, including Turkey (2009), Hungary (2008), Ukraine (2009), Romania (2009), Australia (2005), Kenya (2009) and Ghana (2008) (KOCIS 2011, p. 19). Even though the Czech Republic was not among them, since 2000 we have had to talk about Korean drama in a global perspective. Korean media exporting happened suddenly, and one of the reasons for its success was the low cost. Korean drama costs a quarter of what Japanese programmes cost and a tenth of what dramas from Hong Kong cost (Cho, 2003). The combined effect of many programmes led to Korean drama becoming a world phenomenon.

8 Even though it was aired at 23:00 and average ratings of NHK’s prime-time programmes rarely reached 10% (KOCIS 2011, pp. 16, 17).

9 The story takes place in the Joseon Dynasty during the reign of King Jungjong (1506–1544) and portrays the exhausting life of a poor orphaned female cook, who, through hard work, overcomes many unfortunate challenges and miraculously becomes the king’s first physician.

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1.1 Soap Opera versus Korean Drama

There are similarities and also differences between Korean drama and soap opera. The latter is typically structured as a never-ending story, which is not the case with Korean drama. For example, the immensely popular soap opera Dallas had a total of 357 episodes, the Czech soap opera Rose Garden Surgery10 has now (December 2017) already reached almost 800 episodes. Korean drama, on the other hand, has approximately 12–24 episodes per season, the plot is therefore fairly original and does not go around in tiresome circles as is typical of soap operas (Kristeva, 1995). Although Korean drama employs the prolonged ‘happy ending’, just as soap opera does, so as to encourage the viewer to continue watching the series and to see the climax of the storyline, in Korean drama the ‘happy ending’ comes much sooner. At the same time, the constant delay of the proper ending allows the producers to add new episodes endlessly (Ang, 1990). In both cases, family life stands at the centre of the plot, and its universal character attracts the interests of many viewers. Most audiences can identify with certain family situations portrayed in soap operas and dramas, because they often have the same experiences in their everyday lives (Hobbson, 2003). Soap opera often presents its storyline in a time line parallel with real time (Fiske, 2003); this can lead to ‘imagined reality’, where the main character can for example seemingly even be the viewer’s neighbour. Korean drama usually does not employ this technique. One episode can portray several days, weeks, or even years, since the number of episodes is limited. Korean drama does not fit into one specific subtype11. In other words, Korean drama is not limited by categorisation and uses combinations of subtypes, or else does not adhere to subtypes at all. The typical day-time or daily soap opera is aired in the morning or afternoon and targets mainly housewives or children after school. Apart from the day-time soap operas, we also define prime-time12 soap operas that appeared in the 1970s. These operas do not air

10 Translated from the original Ordinace v růžové zahradě

11 According to Liebes and Livingstone, soap operas can be divided into three distinctive subtypes: the Community soap, the Dynastic soap, and Dyadic soap (1998, p. 4).

12 The specific character of prime-time soap operas is their higher ratings, which leads to growth of the target group to include working women and also men. That also means the storyline must be adapted to satisfy the taste of the entire audience. Typically male interests are added, such as action, the economy, sport or politics. That also means an increased budget per episode and therefore better production quality. 13

every day, but just once or twice a week. They also differ from country to country. There are those in Great Britain centring their attention on social problems, the ‘telenovela’ romances of Latin-America (Volek, 2004, pp. 172, 173) and the Korean dramas. Korean prime-time dramas are broadcast from 22:00 to 23:00 and are aired twice a week (e.g. Monday, Wednesday). There are also daily Korean dramas aired from 19:00 to 20:00 every day of the week. Unlike American soap operas, these dramas are not aired in the morning and afternoon hours. The production of Korean drama usually finishes very close to the actual airing time. It is not unusual for a drama episode not to finish in time, because of various reasons and problems that cannot be resolved within the limits of the tight schedules13. The online streaming commonly used by the Czech audiences of Korean drama is a different process from the television broadcasting of Korean dramas in Korea.

1.2 Typology of Korean Drama, Genres and Format

Today the typical Korean prime-time drama is written by one screenwriter, has from 12 to 24 episodes14 and is aired twice a week. They are usually shot shortly before airing15. They are usually aired at 22:00 and therefore have the best chance for the highest ratings in Korean prime time. The drama can be broadcast by SBS, KBS, jTBC, Channel A. There is another format for day-time opera, which is aired daily at 19:00. It usually has a less complicated storyline and could be compared to day-time soap opera. The dramas are usually written in a specific genre, more often in a combination of them. Typically the plot centres on a leading romantic storyline; the genre alone determines the context of the romance. As for the genres, there is firstly Rom-Com16, romantic light- hearted comedy (It’s Ok that’s Love, Kill Me, Heal Me, Cunning Single Lady, She Was Pretty,

13 For example, the airing of Goblin’s 14th episode was cancelled because of insufficient time to complete the computer graphic effects (Koreaboo, 2017).

14 Except the historical dramas (fusion sageuk) which are usually longer, around 50 to 200 episodes..

15 Sometimes even just a few hours beforehand.

16 This genre is characterised by its unique Korean sense of humour, which is unfamiliar and might even seem primitive, obvious or childish to outsiders. However, this sense of humour is one of the charms of the drama.

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Beautiful Gong Shim). Rom-Com is the most common and is often combined with other genres. Next, the Supernatural drama employs fantasy, mystery and supernatural elements, such as ghosts, vampires, aliens or magic (Master’s Sun, Blood, Let’s Fight Ghost, Vampire Prosecutor, My Love from the Star, Secret Garden). This genre requires some extra time in postproduction, since it uses many computer effects. The genre Melodrama can be described as sad and intense drama focusing on the emotions (Remember, Secret Love, That Winter, The Wind Blows). Historical genre usually deals with humble female protagonists and heroic male protagonists. Korea is often presented as a suffering country of good-hearted people surrounded by enemies (Japan, China). Confucian values (see Deuchler, 1995) are frequently present and intense in the historical dramas, so is the design of the historical houses, temples, costumes, etc. (Gu Family Book, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Empress Ki). Another popular genre is School, which depicts problems faced by teenagers and young people, such as bullying, discrimination based on social status, first love, difficulties as a result of family pressure on a son or daughter regarding their studies and future, obedience/disobedience towards elders, parents, the system (The Heirs, Dream High, Boys Over Flowers, School 2013). Popular recently is Medical drama portraying scenes in hospitals and similar institutions, not necessarily only in Korea. The male protagonist is usually blessed with great medical knowledge and abilities (Doctor Stranger, Emergency Couple, Doctor Crush, Descendant of the Sun). Next are Action, Crime or Police procedural dramas full of exciting stunts, sophisticated and well choreographed fights17, numerous car chases and crashes, dramatic twists, murder solving (City Hunter, Healer, Iris, Innocent Man, Signal). Lastly there are the Psychological dramas presenting characters with mental disorders (Kill Me, Heal Me, It’s Ok That’s Love, Hyde, Jekyll, Me, Cheese in the Trap). Some other commonly used genres are Horror, Military, Sports, Music. Drama genres can be and often are mixed (for example Medical, Action, Military, Rom-Com, such as Descendant of the Sun). The actors in Korean drama regularly move from one ‘dramaworld’ to another. In Korea, the actors of drama usually stay faithful to the format. Occasionally they appear in a movie or variety show, but the Korean actors’ secured successful career governs the amount of screen time they are given, since the competition is very high, especially when

17 For example, defeating the enemy with only a spoon as a weapon.

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it comes to dramas. Then a specific group of actors appears in drama after drama in different pairings; their popularity grows rapidly, which can lead to a swiftly growing fan base for the actor (Lee Min-Ho, Lee Jong-Suk, Park Shin-Hye). Another common practice is to cast K- pop singers in the dramas to increase the ratings, since a popular K-pop idol has a large number of faithful followers (K-poppers) who are devoted enough to watch the drama just because their idol is starring in it (D.O. of EXO, Kang Min-Hyuk of CNBLUE, Lee Ji-Eun – IU). With the K-pop idol cast in the drama, audiences grow, and the drama is more profitable. The Korean Drama Awards ceremony, which rewards the best Korean drama of the year, has been held since 2007.

1.3 Popularity of Korean Drama

Korean drama is a format widely spread across South Korea and also, in its various formats, from East to South-East Asia. As with Korean, there are also Japanese dramas, Chinese dramas, Taiwanese dramas, Hong Kong dramas, Singaporean dramas, etc. The Korean dramas are definitely one of the most popular Asian international media exports. Netflix now offers excerpts of Anime Series, Asian TV Shows, British TV and Turkish TV shows, as well as a category of Korean TV. No other country’s media products have their own category for TV shows on Netflix. Korean dramas are also available on Amazon. One of the most popular Korean dramas, My Love From The Star, is available with English subtitles for US$55.46. Korean dramas are also available online on official or pirate websites (kissasian.ch, viki.com, drama.net, dramafever.com). The big American entertainment company Warner Bros recently (2016) bought DramaFever, the platform streaming the Korean shows online over the world (BBC News, 2016). Video streaming website Viki, which is immensely popular among fans of Korean drama and received the award as the best international start-up company in 2011 (Rao, 2011), uses a specific method of fan-initiated subtitling that is based on volunteer translations managed by the website, thanks to which Viki can offer subtitles in more than 200 languages (Park, 2014), including Czech. The website also offers real-time commenting and therefore can deepen the community experience of shared drama consumption. The Korean domestic market has experienced an increasing trend and has grown by an average of 4.7% every year since 2005. By 2010, it had reached US$61 billion. The immensely popular drama Descendant of the Sun (2016) reached over 16

400 million views in China on online media platforms alone. Just the drama itself was estimated at US$2.5 billion. Another drama hit from 2014, My Love from Another Star, was valued at US$2.8 billion. Korean media exports have also triggered general exports of Korean products. For example by 2015, Korean overseas cosmetics sales had grown about 22%. Coincidentally, the popular drama My Love from Another Star was aired in 2014. Similarly, after the Descendant of the Sun was broadcast, sales of the Hyundai car owned by the main male protagonist portrayed by Song Joon-Ki rose 10% in Korea. Sales of the health product Red Ginseng Everytime, which appeared regularly in the drama, rose during a year to 175% of its previous sales (Kim, 2016).

1.4 Introduction to Dramaworld

Viki recently (2017) produced its own TV series, Dramaworld, which is basically a drama about dramas. The main character is an American female college student, Claire, an avid fan of Korean dramas, who is supposed to fix the drama’s plot and make the main leads fall in love, sealed with a ‘true kiss’. The miniseries uses the most stereotypical elements of Korean drama and transforms them into humorous situations. Dramaworld is therefore the ideal introduction to the drama world.

Dramaworld, the Alphabet of Korean Drama Clichés

Claire anxiously awaits each new episode of her drama, and when it is finally out, she has to see it immediately. Claire cannot help herself; her drama world is completely irresistible. She then becomes involved in one where she learns the rules of the k-drama world from the book of rules and clichés that every drama has to have:

(1) Supporting character unobtrusively helps the lovers: He/she throws down a banana peel on which the lady could slip, and the man becomes the hero as he catches her dramatically, but gently. He/she shows the lovers the direction so that they can unwittingly bump into each other; she will drop a book and he will be there to pick it up for her. He/she will exchange the lookalike bags that belong to the main characters. He/she robs the main heroine so that the main male character can shoot him with an arrow and save the day.

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(2) Characters must meet certain criteria: The male main character has to be good looking, confident, slightly arrogant, and have a deep interest in the main heroine; he should play a musical instrument, and sing (karaoke).

(3) Creators do not care very much if the scenes do not make sense: Even if it is completely out of context, a scene of the male lead showering and showing his muscular body is a must.

(4) Plot twists are brought about by ‘tortured love’: Every drama has a woman who strives for the male lead’s attention. This woman often plays the fiancée of the main character, is rich and is favoured by his mother, although never ends up with the main male protagonist.

(5) Commerce is an integral part of Dramaworld: The main character appears in advertisements for his restaurant. Sponsoring companies are shown regularly. Very obvious also is product placement. The poorest of the poor female protagonists unfailingly own the newest version of a Samsung phone.

(6) Handbooks are never used as a source!: Historical costumes and scenes are impressive and pleasing to look at, even though it is all just for effect and not historically accurate.

(7) Forgetting and remembering: The best tools for appealing to the emotions are to arouse regret and to create touching moments, for example: ‘Remember what she did for you when you were in trouble. Remember how she stood up for you’, ‘I will tell you why you opened this restaurant; it is because you hate the cold, and therefore you opened this place which brings warmth’...And now he remembers.

(8) Gestures: The rule regarding personal contact is that less is more; letting down her hair is used when he is finally meant to realise how beautiful she is; getting drunk involves several bottles of Soju18, embarrassment and ‘honest talk’, usually followed by ‘piggyback’. The rule regarding falling and catching refers to the common situation when men always catch women at the right moment. The scene with a piggyback was comically presented in Dramaworld, when the male lead just walked down the street and an unknown girl with a bottle of Soju

18 Korean widely popular national alcohol

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jumped on his bag. Claire asks, ‘Who is she?’ He answers, ‘Just a girl’, and carries her away on his back as if it is the most natural thing in the world. Dramaworld and k-dramas have many more cliché situations than those mentioned above. Well-known scenes are those where the main heroine applies for a job or scenes where she ‘speaks’ many languages ‘fluently’. Often, she bleeds from her nose. She tries to get to ‘him’ in a hospital, but the staff prevent her from doing so. Someone is hit by a car. The man cries and remembers his father. The main character is usually the CEO of some company, and he is to marry the female antagonist.

1.5 Drama Goes Global

Korean dramas are consumed all over the world, even in the Czech Republic; however there is no study explaining the phenomenon in the context of the Czech Republic. On the other hand, there are many dramas / TV series / soap operas studies in the international context. I therefore had to focus my attention abroad. For the purposes of this thesis, I reviewed studies of the consumption of dramas / TV series / soap operas worldwide, and later also specific cases of Korean drama consumption, with the aim of finding the relationship with Czech audiences, which might benefit the purpose of this study. This review will explain how the media products are designed to sell specific values, explain the consumption of such values and lastly explain how the consumption motivates further consumption. However, first this chapter introduces several theoretical views of the transnational consumption of foreign media exports.

1.5.1 Television Dramas: Transnational Products

This study is based on the situation of transnational media flows from Korea to the Czech Republic. Media from Korea cross the borders in various ways and become accessible to audiences in the Czech Republic. Scholars and the general public refer to the interlinked phenomena of recent global changes, not just in the context of media flows, as globalisation.

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Giddens (1990) talks about globalisation as a consequence of modernity19. Khagram and Levitt (2008) suggest that ‘transnational perspective does not assume away the importance of the global and local, or the nation-state system form. It invites us to think about how these categories change when we don’t assume that they are automatically linked to particular types of territory or space’ (p. 4). If globalisation is a term describing a process of world- encompassing scope, then the notion of transnationalism does not need to be equally inclusive. Transnationalism is meant to describe a situation simplified by the globalisation process and to draw attention to the growing involvement of people, commodities, firms, ideas, etc. which literally cross/transgress national boundaries (Iwabuchi 2002, p. 52). Nevertheless, transnational communication makes the products of one country easily accessible in different continents (Thompson, 2004, p. 142). One could expect that the media products of a foreign culture as specific and focused as soap opera or Korean drama will not be understood in foreign cultures and cannot become popular in a country with much different cultural value. Thompson talks in that sense about globalised diffusion and localised appropriation where the key point is the use of the same and well known ‘language’ (ibid). We all understand the general themes, such as love or the troubles of life. Leung (2009) argues that foreign television dramas do not just cross imaginary cultural borders, but also cross the ‘boundaries between traditional and new media’ (p. 53). Korean drama crosses from television screens in Korean households to the laptop screens of individual Czech viewers. This can happen thanks to the new technologies, such as the internet, which are relatively cheap and fast and can provide access to a variety of possibilities to choose from in the comfortable streaming of the home (Nelson, 1997).

19 The notion of globalisation started to gain popularity in the academic world around the 1980s. An exception might have been McLuhan who had presented the concept in his ‘global village’ (McLuhan, Birdwhistell and Carpenter, 1966) in the 1960s. Even before the appearance of the internet, McLuhan predicted a world connected by media and electronic technologies and therefore predicted, just like life in a village, that everyone would be confronted with intense media content and complicated relations.

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1.5.2 Consuming Cultural Values: The Case of Americanisation

The reflection of consumed values in daily life has been previously discussed, for example by Herbert Schiller (1971, 1976), who defined the theory of cultural and media imperialism. Media such as television or the internet have significant power in modern society and have the ability to create and reflect the culture. Groups or individuals are constantly overwhelmed by messages that flow from multiple sources. These messages carry values that can influence our attitudes, mood and sense of what is and is not important. Television signals and internet access are widely available on all continents and connect even the most remote places. Schiller sees cultural and media imperialism as international corporate influence on a society that is forced to reshape itself accordingly (1976, p. 8). Capitalism meets the conditions for cultural imperialism. That could mean intervention in the cultural identity of a certain social group. Also the more developed capitalist countries are at an advantage. This is a danger for less developed (in the capitalist sense) countries, since there is a possibility that a stronger culture will dominate a weaker one. The symbolic transfer of dominant cultural features into individual national identities and their subsequent homogenisation are the main ideas of the theory of cultural imperialism (Tomlinson, 1991). Cultural imperialism is often associated with the notion of Americanisation, which describes the spreading of western values through the mass media. The phenomenon of Americanisation can also apply to the case of Korean drama values spreading through their consumption to Czech audiences and influencing their everyday lives. Schiller argued (1971) that strong media corporations, along with industrial syndicates, expand beyond the US borders and play a major role in transforming countries and regions around the world into one large, homogenised American empire, governed by American rules (commercialisation of broadcasting) and adopting American values (consumer culture). In recent decades, the development of media-cultural industries around most of the globe means that ‘culture domination can’t be measured by a simple index of exposure to American television programming’ (Schiller, 1971, p. 15), but also includes the English language, shopping in American-styled malls, international pop music or eating in fast-food restaurants.

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1.5.3 Consuming Cultural Values: The Cases in the World Context

In Deniz Özalpman’s (2017) study of Iranians living in Vienna and audience reception of Turkish television drama, he found that the attractive motivational values of drama, such as narratives that highlight uniqueness, gastronomy, history and the ‘three S gateways: sea-sun- sand’, had a direct impact on the consumers’ actions and subsequent consumption. Almost half the participants responded to their drama consumption and made short-term visits to Istanbul. Participants who did not visit Turkey expressed the intention of travelling to Istanbul and in buying relevant dresses, jewellery and fashionable objects. Nevertheless, the government, Turkish state authorities and the audiovisual market recognised this connection, and, as in the case of the Korean government, took appropriate action. A low-price policy was introduced for the opening episodes of the drama series in order to penetrate the global market swiftly. Governments and ministries of culture in local regions collaborate with TV producers, film makers, and distributors and back them with big budgets, simply because of the enormous power of a drama series to generate profits from foreigners and contribute to the country’s economy. The Turkish government also simplified the TV licensing process for international TV producers and offered a tax incentive of 25%. A new museum was opened, with one exhibition dedicated to drama series, with the object of attracting international consumers. Similarly, the study of Kurdish women’s reception of the Turkish soap opera Noor found that values such as ideal husband (supportive, romantic, loving), equal partnership, independence of women (successful, independent, following traditional Kurdish values), modernity, westernised cosmopolitan consumer lifestyle, Muslim values and also advertising of luxury items and Turkey itself directly influenced the audience’s way of life. Women became more aware of their problems and their rights. They wanted to be treated better by their husbands. Five divorces were reported in Aleppo, supposedly caused by soap opera Noor values. Kurdish women of the study criticised their society and its traditional roles. Also, because of Noor, women longed for quality clothes, luxurious houses, furniture and hairstyles similar to those in the show. Urban women mostly started wearing what they wanted to, not just traditional clothes. Kurdish women use the heroine of Noor as an escape from a male dominated and patriarchal society (Hamasaeed, 2011).

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1.6 Korean Drama Goes Global

1.6.1 Market Expansion: Korean Drama Reaches the Western World

Korea’s export growth of media products is very high. Since its start during the late 1990s, Korea has become a culture-exporting machine nurtured by the government (Hong, 2014). In 1998, the amount of exports was so low that the government did not provide any statistics. In 2004, earnings exports of cultural products totalled about US$800 million (KOCIS, 2005), and by the year 2012 export earnings reached US$4600 million (KOCCA, 2013). The government has set an aim of doubling that amount by 2017 (Hong, 2014). The government support and efforts to increase and sustain the Korean wave are undeniable. By using the nature of globalisation and soft power (see Nye, 2004) the Korean government was able to turn the country’s popular culture into an export earner (KOCIS 2011, p. 48). Government does not underestimate these financial opportunities, similarly as Turkish government (Hamasaeed, 2011) helps in several ways to support the phenomenon. For example, to ease the production expenses, the government offered a loan for the production of the series Descendant of the Sun, when Import Bank of Korea gave a loan of US$2.5 million at a low interest rate. Government also offers tax incentives to foreign-invested cultural- content companies, for example national tax incentive of 100% for 3 years and 50% for 2 years. Government also leases state-owned and public land with for example a 75% reduction of rental for US$10 million to US$20 million of foreign investment. The same rental reduction can be gained with 200-300 employees on a daily average or if more than 50% of production is exported and 75%-100% of parts and materials are locally produced, etc. (ibid).

1.6.2 Accessibility of Korean Drama

Distances are shortened, and we can obtain the cultural contents of different countries within seconds. The internet offers online streaming of dramas, as well as the platform for the formation of many online fan groups where these dramas can be discussed. Social media provide fertile ground for parasocial viewers’ relationships with the actors and actresses. Even though the dramas remained unnoticed by the academic world for a long time, their commercial potential was quickly realised by the entertainment corporations.

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DramaFever20 is an online video streaming website where users can watch their favourite dramas. The website has licensing arrangements with the big three (SBS, KBS and MBC). DramaFever used a channel on Hulu (the American subscription video on-demand service) to distribute Korean drama in the United States and Canada. Czech audiences can watch Korean drama with English subtitles online at DramaFever.com, Drama.net, GoodDrama.net, DramaFire.com, KissAsian.com and many more. The websites are usually free of charge, advertisement-supported and have the option of premium subscription for high definition. Lately, some official websites are charging a monthly fee. For example Viki is starting to lock new dramas, usually from the second episode, and is asking for subscriptions and monthly payments. There are still many pirate websites that offer the dramas free. Czech consumers can even find Czech subtitles for the dramas21, as mentioned earlier.

1.6.3 Consuming Cultural Values: The Cases in the Context of Korea

The imagery of success can support a flattering perception of Korea in foreign countries and help Korean products to sell better. Lewis (2004) illustrated this with the example of Japanese female fans of the Korean idol Bae Yong Jun, who, the fans believed, represented the male image of all Koreans. Japanese women therefore thought of Koreans as more masculine and taller than Japanese men, which could have influenced the rapid growth of membership applications from Japanese women to matchmaking companies in 2004. Hasegawa (2006), in her study of the effect of Korean TV dramas on the attitudes of Japanese viewers towards Koreans and Korea, found there was a change in the perception of the image of Korea. By watching drama, viewers came to feel an affinity for Korea, acquired a more favourable image of Korea and Koreans and showed an increased interest in Korean culture, history and Japanese/Korean relations. Additionally, findings show that younger people who use the internet, younger people in general and people more exposed to Korean drama were more susceptible to changes in attitude. Similarly, in Brenda Chan’s (2007) study

20 Owned by Warner Bros, available at: www.dramafever.com

21 See ivuse-korean-dramas.webnode.cz, asiantitulky.cz

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of Korean television drama and female Singaporean viewers’ motivation to visit Korea, carried out through focus groups with avid viewers, it was found that the beautiful scenery presented in the dramas as well as the need to validate or confirm the accuracy and reality of portrayed landscapes and architecture triggered the viewers’ need to visit Korea.

1.6.4 Academics Missing Opportunity of Korean Drama

Hallyu, and even specifically Korean drama, is quite a common topic of research among Asian and Asian-American scholars. Many aspects of Korean drama have been studied in Asian countries (Hasegawa, 2006; Lin and Tong, 2008; Lee and Cho, 1995). However, Korean drama has suffered from a lack of interest by the western academic world, notably by European academics. Asian countries have been and are still neglected by media scholars who are not of Asian origin, even those focusing specifically on soap opera. In 1995, Allen published an anthology of soap operas To be Continued… Soap Operas Around the World, surprisingly with only one Asian country, the People’s Republic of China, and with only one soap opera, Yearning, representing the entire Asian drama production. The book was criticised by Chua and Iwabuchi, who responded with East Asian Pop Culture: Analysing the Korean Wave (2008), in which they address the problem and remind the west that ‘TV soap operas or melodramas have been part of the staples of popular entertainment in East Asia since, at least, the early 1970s’ (2008, p. 1) and should therefore have been represented in the wider spectrum of Allen’s publication as it claimed to cover soap operas around the world. This is quite unfortunate, and also surprising, given the impact of Korean drama on the global media market. The academic world seems simply to underestimate the still-growing phenomenon, even though lately the situation regarding the neglect of Korean dramas (and Asian dramas in general) has improved with the growing trend of Korean media exports to non-Asian countries. The lack of interest in Korean drama by those academics who do not have any direct connection with Asia and the avid interest of Asian academics have kept the study of Korean drama closed inside a ‘bubble’ that is getting bigger, but still unnoticed by many who might be surprised when it is suddenly ‘revealed’. This though provided me the important information, according the presented literature review, the Korean drama consumption and reception is a relevant topic of study, and the neglect of Czech academics makes it ideal research subject. 25

2 Czech Audiences

The main research focus of this study is the Czech audiences of Korean drama. Not much is known about viewers’ responses to the values of Korean dramas in the Czech Republic, compared to the number of studies conducted in the Asian context. This chapter reveals through the limited literature available on the topic Czech audiences’ ways and options to consume Korean dramas and their experiences with Korean dramas.

2.1 Korean Drama in the Czech Republic

Europe has definitely been reached by Korean wave. The drama Jewel in the Palace Elevates was being viewed in Romania, Hungary, Spain, France, Greece and elsewhere by 2011. The Czech Republic was not one of the countries the drama was aired in, nevertheless around that time the Korean wave had already made at least a slight impact on Czech audiences through the internet streaming. Czech audiences had to wait until 2015 when Lovers in Prague (2005), the first of these dramas and to date (December 2017) the only one, was seen on Czech television screens. The drama was shown by NovaCinema, and at the time of appearance it was already 10 years old. Although Czech TV audiences simply did not have the opportunity to experience the early wave of the 2000s, there are internet websites, such as kissasian.ch and dramafever.com, and also social media, such as Facebook and You Tube that serve as an intermediary for the Hallyu Wave in Czech society. Of course, the Korean government also lent a hand to promote Korean culture. The Korean Embassy has set it as its goal to help spread Hallyu in the Czech Republic. The embassy for example helped to establish the Sejong Centre at Charles University and studies in Korean22 as a major subject at Palacky University. There are also Korean food festivals and relevant workshops organised regularly by the embassy (Mazaná, 2014, p. 47).

22 Charles University has also offered studies in Korean as a major subject since 1950.

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2.1.1 Fansubbing

Very important also are active ‘fansubbing’ groups. Fansubbing is an essential part of the process of the drama transference from Korea to the Czech Republic. These enthusiastic fan groups translate the dramas from Korean to English and also from English to Czech to provide subtitles for local viewers (Cintas and Sánchez, 2006). The subtitling is carried out in their free time and involves a huge amount of work. The reward is usually just the satisfaction of having done a good job, as well as free access to the dramas on the specific platform they have translated for. There are some providers of Czech subtitles. Specific teams work for the international website viki.com, where users can choose subtitles from several languages. There are also non-profit blogs, such as ivuse-korean-dramas.webnode.cz, belonging to the translator Ivuše, or the website Asiantitulky.cz, where users can download the subtitles they need. With faster and better quality translation also come higher viewing numbers and greater interest in the viewing.

2.1.2 Academic Focus on Hallyu and Korean Drama Consumption by Czech Audiences

Europe was not influenced by Korean popular culture as much as, for example, China and Japan, or even Latin American and Arab countries, which has resulted in a very limited amount of research on the topic of Hallyu within the European context. Even though there are studies on the consumption of Korean media products in Europe, none has been forthcoming from the Czech academic world. To the best of my knowledge, no relevant study has been conducted specifically focusing on Korean drama23 and Czech audiences. Actually, again as far as I am aware, there is only one existing study – the quantitative research of Mazaná (2014) on the consumption of Korean media exports conducted in the context of the Czech Republic. This is not really surprising considering the fact that the majority of Czechs have

23 Some Master’s research has been done, for example Marcela Kašparová’s Phenomenon "hallju" and Korean television series, 2007, conducted at Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Arts, Institute of the Far East, Korean Seminar. Such work is interesting, however its quality precludes it from being considered as a relevant source.

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never heard of Korean drama. Figures show that only about 10% of Czechs have ever heard of Hallyu or Korean wave (Mazaná, 2014, p. 50). In this respect, the present thesis therefore only has a very limited amount of data at its disposal. There is no previous study, literature that can give a reasoned account of how Korean drama is viewed by Czech audiences in the context of the Czech Republic or how the cultural values of Korean drama meet the daily life of Czech audiences, topics that were consequently determined as the focus of this thesis. Czech Hallyu fans are not a compact and united group, but consist rather of small communities not exceeding more than 3000 people in total (ibid, p. 48). These groups are, however, showing a growing trend, and each year the number of fans increases. The Facebook page of the social club Czech Hallyu Wave has 2099 likes (December 2017). There are also other Korean drama fan communities on Facebook, K-dorama/movie CZ komunita with 505 followers, K-POP & K-Dramas CZECH with almost 1380 followers24 (December 2017). The social club Czech Hallyu Wave was established in 2011, and since then organises a Hallyu weekend every year in August (ibid). Czech fans of Korean modern culture therefore have an opportunity to join and enjoy their shared interest. The club works closely with the Korean Embassy and no doubt plays a part in the increase in Czech fans, specifically K-pop fans (Mazaná, 2014, p. 61). Over weekends, Hallyu Events are held, which include seminars, presentations and lectures covering the theme of Korean popular music. There is also a K- POP Contest where Czech fans can enjoy themselves and compete in singing and dancing events. Groups or individuals have to perform Korean popular songs, and the winners then represent the Czech Republic at the K-POP World Festival organised by KBS in Korea. In 2012, the Czech female group O. M. G. won the first prize. When ex-president Park Geun-hye appeared at the first Czech K-pop concert during her official visit to the Czech Republic in 2015, O. M. G. shared the stage with her. The concert was visited by about 1500 fans. I have specifically mentioned K-pop, because in the Czech context the drama fans are very often also K-pop fans, and it is difficult to distinguish between the two groups.

24 The number of followers does not only include Czech audiences; the followers can be from other countries, specifically Slovakia, with which the Czech Republic shares its history, has a similar language and is generally very close to.

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The community of so-called K-poppers25 is, according to Mazaná, the largest of all fan communities in the Czech Republic. The fans are interested firstly in the Korean language (54%), second comes Korean films (48%), closely followed by Korean drama (46%). Czech fans also favour Korean food (43%), Korean fashion and cosmetics (38%), Korean comics (10%) and computer games (5%) (Mazaná, 2014, p. 48). The age of the fans can be divided into groups: 10–19 years old (54%), 20–29 years old (33%), 30–39 years old (8%), 40–49 years (2%) and 50–59 (2%). The fans consist mainly of females (83%) (ibid, p. 51). Those who were directly interested in Korean culture usually consumed Korean films (mostly directed by Kim Ki-duk or Park Chan-wook), K-pop (Bigbang, Shinee, B. A. P.) or Korean dramas (Winter Sonata, Fullhouse). The development of their interest usually follows a pattern. ‘After having watched a music video commonly a chain of reaction followed: first looking up information about the artist then watching other related music videos and dramas, afterward seeking other related content’ (ibid, p. 51). The idols seem to be the centre of their attraction. Female respondents were generally attracted to Korean men, and 40% of them wish for a Korean partner. Apart from Korean men, the appeal of drama also seems to be rooted in its romantic, naive and exotic traits (Mazaná, 2014, p. 58). Korean drama, according the research, is watched by 65% of Czech fans. Some of them watch drama more frequently than others: 36% watch drama just ‘sometimes’, 29% ‘at least three times a week’, and 6% stated that they watch Korean drama ‘on a daily basis’ (ibid). The Czech fans are interested in the Korean language mostly so they can understand K- pop or dramas. Some refer to the Korean language as ‘beautiful’ (ibid, p. 51). This attractiveness seems to be carried over to the context of culture. According to the presented study, as a result of their consumption of Korean popular culture, Czech fans are attracted to other areas of Korean culture and its consumption. In addition of this chapter, note that fans of Korean drama do not necessarily only watch drama, they may also watch Korean variety shows, music videos, and they could also be K-poppers or K-pop fans. They may also consume media exports from other Asian countries. When I talk about Korean drama audiences, I also have to consider the varied consumption of the community.

25 This how Czech fans describe themselves (K-popper for male and K-poperka for female).

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3 Designated Values

These ‘designated’ values are cultural values or systems of values repeatedly portrayed in the dramas that sometimes influence the consumer to watch Korean drama regularly and furthermore influence the viewers’ actions, opinions and attitudes. Values in Korean dramas might be specifically designed by producers and writers to lure consumers and keep their attention (carefully selected beautiful actors, scenery, etc.) and sometimes appear as a side effect or as a random, circumstantial occurrence, for example cultural traditions naturally included in the dramas (Korean funeral traditions, specific sense of humour, Asian features of actors, etc.). All this is consumed together with the Korean dramas. As stated above, such values can later be reflected in the lifestyle or everyday routine of the audiences. It may also vary from culture to culture.

3.1 The Role of Designated Cultural Values in the Process of Transnational Consumption

This chapter determines the role of values in the transnational context and introduces the usefulness of Hofstede’s model of cultural values to this study. In this study, I am not addressing the notion value in its generally accepted meaning of ‘socially shared conceptions of what is good, right, and desirable’ (Knafo, Roccas and Sagiv, 2011, p. 178). Milton Rokeach (1968) suggests that the values can control the structure of attitudes and norms. Talcott Parsons (1991) defines values as the components of a shared symbolic system serving as a criterion or standard for choosing from the alternatives in a particular situation. This study employs the notion values, or ‘designated’ values, as identifying values, characteristics, recurring elements and trans-situational motivational goals as the causes of attitudes and action. ‘Designated’ value also implies its careful tailoring through the production process and appointed categories of value dimensions contained in the dramas as explained later. The individual usually has far fewer values than attitudes, so values can more easily and effectively explain the differences and similarities between people, groups and cultures (Rokeach, 1968, p. 14). Additionaly, in Geert Hofstede’s definition, values are what many other authors regard as attitudes. He also assumes that feelings can be negative or positive

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(good/bad, likeable/unlikeable, etc.) (Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov, 2010, p. 9). Hofstede, unlike other approaches, places values in the central position of cultural components. From the centre outward, there are values, rituals, heroes and symbols, while practices intermingle with all the components. Values therefore have an impact on all the practices. For that reason, this study considers values from the viewpoint of Hofstede.

Figure 1 Structure of Cultural Levels by Geert Hofstede (Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov, 2010, p. 8)

In this study, values can affect individuals’ preferences, their choices and actions and how they perceive and interpret the world. Besides the individual level, this study also reflects the national level of values (interpretative communities), exploring how groups interpret the world (Hofstede, 2001; Schwartz, 1999). There are several value charts or models provided by scholars in the context of cross-cultural studies. Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory consists (finally) of six cross-culturally applicable dimensions that he determined mostly through studies in 1967–1973 and 1990–2002, and the last dimension was added in 2010. The final dimensions were Power distance index (PDI), Individualism vs. collectivism (IDV), Uncertainty avoidance index (UAI), Masculinity vs. femininity (MAS), Indulgence vs. restraint (IND) and Long-term orientation (LTO) initially called Confucian dynamism (Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov, 2010). The use of this cross-cultural dimensional model is most suitable for the comparison of the values of specific cultures, and although that is not the objective of the present research, it can nevertheless provide the ‘designated’ values of drama with a sound footing that will help with its biggest limitation – to reflect which values of individuals’ comprehensive value systems and follow-up actions are connected to drama values which might also be determined

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by the culture they live in. This theory moreover defends the relevance of values in the audience reception study. Hofstede suggests that values can affect individuals’ preferences, choices and actions cross-culturally in those six specific dimensions. Consumer values can influence the way audiences perceive and interpret the world. Hofstede’s theory was criticised by McSweeney (2002), who questioned the evidence for the existence of ‘national culture’, arguing that cultural values cannot be measured and also challenging the methodology used. I also believe the model overgeneralises, and therefore this thesis does not use that model as the main determinant of the values. Hofstede’s simplification should only serve to reflect the values determined by the culture and then proceed to produce results that are more relevant. Because of the nature of Hofstede’s unified methodology, the cross-cultural character of the research, the broad spectrum of countries he studied and the original reason for conducting the research, which is meant specifically for further comparison, the results of his studies are the ideal starting point for assessing the different value systems of both the Czech Republic and Korea. I will thus use Hofstede’s comparison of the cultural dimensions of the Czech Republic and Korea to set a solid ground for the analysis. The results of the comparison will serve as a background to put the analysis into the context of the value dimensions of each country and to compare respondents’ statements and their value structures with the cultural dimensions of both countries. I will use Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to compare and classify the ‘designated’ values of Korean drama, since my research focus is to find how studied Czech audiences reflect the values of Korean drama. In the next chapter, I will provide a comparison of value dimensions for the Czech Republic and Korea.

3.2 Comparison of Value Structures of the Czech Republic and Korea on the Basis of Geert Hofstede’s 6-D Model

To understand how states differ from each other, Hofstede developed the cultural dimensions theory. It explains how a society’s culture affects the values of its members. He introduced the 6-D Model – the model of the six dimensions of values. States that were the subject of Hofstede’s research were assigned numerical values from 1 to 100 to denote their position on the scale of each value dimension. This numerical value then determines to what

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extent the members of each country’s culture approach the extreme (absolute) values of the dimensions. How high or low the number on the scale of each value is then determines if the members of the culture fully identify or reject the claims that are assigned to these values. In result the Czech Republic (57) and Korea (60) are both hierarchical society, which means Czech and Korean people are based on hierarchical order. Every person has their own place in society and there is no need for justification. With benevolent autocrat as the ideal boss, people on hierarchically lower level are told what is expected from them. The Czech Republic (58) is an individualistic society. Individuals are raised in the spirit of providing only for the closest family and themselves. Korea (18) is on the other hand very collectivistic society. People are bound to strong, long-term relationships, with their family and relatives, where everyone cares about each other. Loyalty is the most important attribute in a collectivistic culture, attribute with such power that bends other societal rules. The Czech Republic (57) is compared to Korea a Masculine society, where the statement “live in order to work” prevails. Among other for the Masculine society is typical assertiveness, decisiveness, equity, overcoming all difficulties at any cost and work competitive efficiency. Korea (39) is considered Feminine society focusing on “working in order to live”. Highly valued attributes are solidarity and people equality. People strive for consensus and rewarding work life. Negotiation and compromising resolve any conflict. The Czech Republic (74) and even more Korea (85) both have a high preference for avoiding uncertainty. Korea, with its score, is ranked among the most uncertainty avoiding countries around the world. High level of Uncertainty Avoidance negatively influences tolerance for new ideas, unexpected situations or behaviour. People are hard-working just to occupy themselves and feel need to stick to their rules (even to non-working ones). Both, the Czech Republic (70) and definitely Korea (100) are pragmatic. Korea is one of the most long-term oriented societies. These societies are able to adjust their traditions according to changing circumstances and rely, corporate South Korea particularly, on steady market growth rather than shot-term profit. Achieving results is highly appreciated and also, time, context and situation are components on which the truth depends. Both countries are resistant societies (29), therefore their people tend to be cynical and pessimistic. Restrained societies, unlike to Indulgent societies, don’t pursue leisure time activities and don’t resist their desires easily. This kind of society orientation won’t let its people to indulge themselves and leave them with need for restrain (Hofstede, 2017).

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Figure 2 Comparison of value dimensions for Czech Republic and Korea (Hofstede, 2017)

As was explained above, this comparison should offer solid ground for further analyses, to compare respondents’ statements and their value structures with the cultural dimensions of both countries and to analyse the ‘designated’ values of Korean drama in the context of the value dimensions of both countries.

3.3 Extensive Literature Review of Designated Values of Exported Korean Drama

In this study, I use Hofstede (2017) and Schwartze’s (2012) proposition that motivation goals are connected to central values and can therefore also identify the ‘designated’ values. As was stated earlier, Korean media products, such as Korean drama, in some way motivate the consumer’s regular consumption of them, and the audience numbers for media products of Korean popular culture are constantly rising. This chapter aims to analyse previous studies focusing on the appeal of Korean drama and the motivation of audiences to watch Korean drama, with the specific objective of determining the values, attributes and elements regularly presented in Korean dramas, which I call ‘designated’ values. This chapter provides an extensive literature review of previous studies of

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‘designated’ values in detailed examinations by several academics interested in the phenomenon of Korean drama. My original intention was to present the findings of a single encompassing study of the attributes, values and perhaps content analysis of Korean drama, however since I have been unable to find any suitable comprehensive study gathering all the values, I have decided to do an extensive literature review instead. Asian nations have decades of experience with drama fever (Chua and Iwabuchi, 2008), however Korean drama has now gained popularity around the world, particularly in Africa, America and even in Europe. Korean media products such as Korean drama have some kind of universal appeal that somehow crosses the cultural boundaries (KOCIS 2011, p. 41) and lets its consumers taste a little bit of the ‘Miracle of the Han River’. I have decided to review the values of Korean drama since ‘[v]alues have been recognised as having a crucial role in understanding cultures’ (Knafo, Roccas and Sagiv 2011, p. 178), and the number of studies focusing on values in that sense is growing (ibid). By the end of this chapter, I will provide a table of ‘designated’ values of Korean drama.

3.3.1 Aesthetics

Korean dramas ‘combine both existing and idealised (consumerist) lifestyles into the storylines’ (Lin and Tong, 2008, p. 100). Aesthetic values, such as fashion, beautiful scenery or beautiful protagonists are also implemented into the dramas (ibid). In the qualitative research of Hong Kong and Singaporean female audiences of Korean drama by Lin and Tong, some of the respondents talked about Korean dramas as ‘offering an aesthetically appealing “package” to view – wonderful music, beautiful scenery and backdrops’ and ‘the beautiful people, beautiful sceneries and beautiful clothing’ appealed to another respondent (ibid). Beautiful scenery is one of the main attractions of Korean dramas. The previously mentioned melodrama Winter Sonata became popular because of the beautiful main protagonists portrayed by Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo and the beautiful snowy scenery of Nami Island (KOCIS, 2011). Many viewers travelled to Korea to visit the scenes portrayed in the drama (Chua and Iwabuchi, 2008). Similarly, in Brenda Chan’s (2008) study of Korean television drama and female Singaporean viewers’ motivation to visit Korea (2007), carried out through focus groups with avid viewers, it was found that the beautiful scenery presented in the dramas as well as the need to validate or confirm the accuracy and reality of portrayed 35

landscapes and architecture triggered the viewers’ need to visit Korea. The beauty of the portrayed scenery combined with curiosity seems to be the tourists’ motivation. Lin and Tong’s (2008) previously mentioned research showed through a questionnaire survey that 95% of Hong Kong female respondents and 93% of Singaporean female respondents would watch Korean drama because they considered the scenery portrayed in it as ‘beautiful’ (p. 100). Next to the scenery, respondents appreciated the quality of the camera work. Another aesthetic attribute is fashion. Lin and Tong (2008) found that many of their respondents liked the beautiful fashionable clothing styles worn by the stars. One of the respondents described the clothing styles in the Winter Sonata as ‘very attractive’ and ‘never out-of-date’ (p. 101). Leung (2004) claims that the impact of Winter Sonata was noticeable by the number of young people on the streets of Southeast Asia wearing woollen scarves suspiciously similar to those worn by the main protagonist in the drama. K-drama Jewel in the Palace influenced Sri Lankans as well. After watching this drama, women started buying and wearing Korean hair clips, handbags and similar hair styles (Shyama, 2014) There are also high standards of beauty for the actors and actresses, who commonly undergo plastic surgery26 to meet the expectations of the market and society. Beautiful actresses leave deep and strong impression for example on Chinese audience. Korean beauty standard lies in a pointed chin, V-line baby face, double eyelids and an S-line body. Light skin is preferred over darker one because of having a light skin is associated with success, intelligent and beauty. Thus, people across Asia or Africa lighten their skin according to this beauty standard. People believe having such skin will have positive effects on their lives. All what was mentioned led to expansion of plastic surgery tourism among foreigners. Many Chinese women visit Korean medical centres to satisfy their desire for Korean beauty. (Zhang, 2014).

26 According to The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Korea has the most plastic surgery per capita in the world, with over 980 000 recorded operations in 2014. For example, this is 20 procedures per 1000 people, compared to the US’s 13 procedures per 1000 people (ISAPS, 2014).

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3.3.1 Universality, Simplicity and Acceptance

Korean drama is less provocative therefore more universal. The central theme is love, which every culture can identify with, because it obviously is universal. Dramas are usually less sexual (kissing is usually as far as the love story will go) and less violent, therefore the content is suitable for a wider age spectrum and a more conservative audience (the Middle East) (KOCIS, 2011, p. 43). Jiang and Leung found in their study of lifestyles that Chinese audiences of Korean drama and American series prefer Korean drama when they feel like escaping from ‘reality’. For the audience, Korean drama serves as a sort of recreational activity. The study found that the ‘Korean style is more mature but homogeneous, while the American style seems more diverse and dynamic’ (Jiang and Leung, 2012, p. 175). According to Leung (2004), Asians are generally more conservative and reserved than westerners when it comes to love and sexuality, therefore the drama can appeal to larger audiences. A Chinese respondent in Lin and Tong’s (2008) study claimed that she liked the ‘spiritual love’ presented in the dramas and the ‘physical love’ being suppressed. That kind of spiritual, non- graphic love seemed more pure and therefore stronger. Some respondents wished for this kind of love themselves. Many respondents labelled the open sexuality as too ‘liberalised’ and a ‘western value’. It was for example present in Japanese dramas, which they did not appreciate. Japanese dramas were ‘lacking the correct moral values for youth’ (p. 103). Some respondents also perceived moral values as Confucianist values. Korean dramas, according to one respondent, presented more ‘traditional values’, such as children’s respect for parents and elders, a married woman’s respect for her mother-in-law. A woman should, according to her, ‘help her husband and teach her children’ (p. 103). The study concluded that Korean dramas presented only modest expressions of love, such as a simple touch or eye contact, and the absence of ‘intimate shots’ in the dramas was actually appreciated by most of the Chinese audiences. The study by Lee (2004) also showed that, compared to Japanese dramas, Korean dramas placed greater emphasis on Confucianist values, such as family values, moral values and family relationships.

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3.3.2 Modernity

Many audience studies (Lee, 2008; Cho, 2003; Shin, 2006) of Asian consumers of Korean popular media content imply that the ‘sophisticated’ or ‘modern’ style is what the audiences find attractive and therefore preferable over local productions. The perception of the dangerous war-torn Asian country has changed in the eyes of the world (Sung, 2014, p. 90), specifically by those countries that have already had contact with the new, developed, modern version of Korea through Korean media product exports (Samsung, LG or Hyundai products such as cars, smartphones, televisions or Korean dramas like Jewel in the Palace Elevates influence the way viewers perceive Korea today). Closely connected with this modernity is also consumer behaviour. In Lin and Tong’s study, their Chinese respondents were attracted to the consumption patterns embodied in the Korean dramas promoting a globalised consumer lifestyle (2008, p. 101). Modernity encompasses globalisation and usually the metropolitan, city life of the main settings of the drama (Ko, 2004). This modern lifestyle also includes fashion, beauty, plastic surgery, working patterns, free love, social justice, etc. (Lin and Tong, 2008, p. 101). There are many elements that can define ‘modern’ or ‘not modern’ in the dramas. Hidden behind the modernity label is also the ‘new way of thinking’, specifically the accent on individual choice (ibid). This is often represented in the dramas by the male protagonist’s strong resistance to parental pressure to marry a wealthy woman from a good family. The male lead usually protects and fights for the forbidden love he feels for the female lead. The female lead is often presented as hard-working and strong. For Chinese respondents too, the label of ‘modern’ meant social equality, personal efforts and achievements, for example one respondent claimed that she found it ‘brave’ and ‘very modern’ the way the story fights the cultural norms. She said, ‘I admire this, the modern sensibility that they have, they try to break away from certain traditions that don’t make sense […] It’s the value system that I admire, the new sensibility that they are trying to craft out of agentic actions’ (Lin and Tong, 2008, p. 102). Modernity seems to be a value highly appreciated in the sense of breaking the stereotypical values systems and evoking individualism and emancipation. It is also understood by the audiences of the study under review as a new cosmopolitan consumptive city lifestyle full of new commodities, new technology and the urban settings of the drama’s plot. The penetration of western values into traditional Asian values is recognised more and

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more by both academics and consumers as ‘Asian modernity’. Korean drama then employs these carefully filtered western values that are positively perceived as ‘Asian modernity’ to reach the highest possible number of viewers. The value of modernity is therefore closely related to the value of universality of Korean drama (ibid). Work ethic is closely connected with the label of modernity. With the new modern approach comes what could be called female work-status emancipation. The female leads are often portrayed in the drama as tough, bold, openly expressing their desires and trying to succeed in the working sphere. By the end of the drama, they usually achieve some appreciation at work, reach a goal or have improved and are set on the right direction in the career sense (next to success in their love life). Many respondents of the Lin and Tong (2008) study recognised the ‘realism’ of scenes covering the modern career woman’s path towards success and working conditions (p. 101). Drama dealing with work portrays women as less aggressive than men, polite, obedient and also quite submissive, for example women often nod in the dramas to express their politeness (ibid, p. 107).

3.3.3 ‘Typical’ Korean

Korean drama Jewel in the Palace, which besides other things depicts consumption of Korean food, was very popular among men and women in Malaysia. This drama caused increasing interest in Korean food. Many Malaysians started to visit Korean restaurants to taste kimchi or bulgogi. Korean dramas, especially Jewel in the Palace, provided a glimpse of Korean food to Malayans. In Kuala Lumpur, there were opened five new Korean restaurants named ‘Daejanggeum’. Also, export of kimchi to other Asian countries increased, specifically in Malaysia to 150%. Ham Kyung-Joon, director of KNTO27 in Kuala Lumpur, managed to persuade a group of 2,700 tourists to visit South Korea by advertising traditional Korean food, namely samgyetang, which appeared in Jewel in the Palace (Cho, 2010). According to study of Hanaki et al. (2007) one of the respondents stated that after watching Korean dramas she became interested in Korean food and started eating seaweed, barbecue and kimchi. The study by Lee, Ham and Kim (2014) revealed that positive image

27 Korea National Tourism Organization's Kuala Lumpur

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on Korea, to which Korean dramas greatly present, has significant impact on the desire to visit Korean restaurants and try their food. Korean wave also started increasing numbers of people learning Korean language in spoken or written form. Research at University of New South Wales in Australia focused on students enrolled in local Korean language course. To understand Korean TV dramas and films, to be able to speak to Koreans and interest in Korean language are three main reasons why students decided to learn Korean language. Thus, their primary motivation is driven by Korean popular media culture. Additional reasons for learning the Hangul were to have personal relationship with Koreans or understanding of Korean way of life (Shin, 2009). According to study of Dita Kusumasari (2017), people with strong watching habit see the ideas presented in dramas as reality and may start acting according to them. This significantly influences K-style imitation behaviour which mostly strikes adolescents.

3.3.4 Family and ‘Confucianist’ Values

The family-orientedness and Confucian tradition is another value very often if not always present in Korean dramas. This specific value can be appealing to viewers who share its cultural affinity. Other, non-Asian, cultures might perceive it simply as family entertainment, everyday life we all interact in (KOCIS, 2011, p. 42). Sung (2010) names factors such as nationalism in the drama plot and Confucian-based family values presented in the drama Jewel in the Palace as the main values making the dramas transnationally successful. Lee and Cho (1995) found through an ethnographic approach that Madison’s (USA) upper middle class and middle class female viewers of Korean drama appreciate Korean drama over American because of Confucianist values in the less sexual context. The suppressed sexuality or graphic scenes are also covered by the value of Universality and Acceptance of Korean drama. This shows a connection between the Confucian tradition and the perception of sexuality. According to Lin and Tong’s qualitative comparative study of Singapore and Hong Kong female audiences (2008), most respondents liked the emphasis on family values presented in Korean dramas. Besides family members, the notion of family in this study also included friends, spouses, colleagues, etc., and for the viewers it was an important attribute of dramas. One respondent highlighted the non-romantic love, such as love between friends, 40

family, teacher and student, as being refreshingly presented in Korean dramas, and something that local Hong Kong productions were lacking. Similarly, another respondent from Singapore liked the ‘multi-dimensional’ love, which she described as ‘a strong sense of human touch’ in Korean dramas (Lin and Tong, 2008, p. 98). Most of the respondents reflected these values positively in the context of relationships as ‘Asian’ values. They liked the fact that love is expressed in an ‘Asian way’ in Korean dramas. For example, the value of family relationships was very highly regarded. The close connection among family members and the presence of filial piety among the characters were specifically important to respondents (ibid). When it comes to relationships, many respondents were enthralled by the ‘family warmth’, ‘strong sense of family’ and ‘traditional family virtues’ presented in the dramas (p. 99). The authors also point out that the different types of family values and moral values are often interpreted by their respondents as Confucianist values (ibid). The informants considered all values connected to what they interpreted as an ‘Asian worldview’ to be so- called Confucianist cultural values, mostly with regard to the family, gender relations, romance and sexuality ethic (ibid). The respondents also appreciated the ‘family warmth’ in the dramas and described it as ‘the most important thing in one’s life’ (ibid, p. 115).

3.3.5 Brand of Exotic Fairy Tale

Ko (2005) highlights, among other attributes, the good and solid storylines of Korean dramas. In their study of the lifestyles of Chinese audiences, Jiang and Leung (2012) found that the ‘differences in narrative appeal can help to build “brand” for different foreign TV dramas’ (p. 175). Korean drama therefore becomes a ‘special experience’, and its consumers can therefore feel ‘special’ for consuming this different type of foreign drama. The narrative of the successful drama must be well designed: ‘In the long run, it is important for producers to pay attention to their specific style of narrative or exotic flavour, and find the right niche for different viewers’ (ibid). Lin and Tong (2008) found that viewers from Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan favour the ‘fairy tale’ storyline. This fairy tale presented by the dramas usually ends ‘happily ever after’; the main female protagonist finds ideal love and care, appreciation, family and career success (see the chapter Introduction to the Dramaworld). The study of Lin and Tong found that Korean dramas present ideal ‘true love’ that is highly appreciated by their respondents. 41

3.3.6 Emotions and Korean ‘han’

Korean drama stories are simple but emotionally powerful. Unlike American ‘season’ formats, where it is decided when and whether to renew the series according to the ratings, Korean dramas are written for a specific number of episodes, and the storyline is therefore more compact and focused on the main theme. In this regard, the story is usually highly homogenous and has a stronger emotional appeal (KOCIS, 2011, p. 45). Depictions of ‘pure love’, nostalgia and longing are often embedded in the storyline (Hanaki, Singhal et al. 2007). Hayashi and Lee (2007) studied Japanese female audiences and found that middle-aged women liked the next to beautiful protagonists ‘perennial theme of pure love’ presented in Korean dramas. Lin and Tong (2008) found in their research that their respondents considered the emotion presented in the drama as a quality that is absent in other similar media contents. They especially appreciated the depth and complexity of the emotions in human relationships presented in the Korean dramas (p. 103). Many Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong audiences prefer Korean drama because of the strong emotional content (Leung, 2004). Another element implemented in Korean drama is the so-called Korean han that ‘could be described as a collective sentiment of sorrow, regret, resentment, and, often, yearning for vengeance’ (ibid, p. 46). This is probably the essence extracted from the historical suffering of Koreans. In the drama, it is usually employed as strong passivity and emotiveness, usually difficult for non-Koreans to understand. However, it leaves the viewers with a more intense experience (ibid, pp. 46-47). Emotions are reinforced by the background music, which several studies (Lin and Tong, 2008, Leung, 2004) have also defined as one of the appeals of Korean drama. Lu and Argyle (1993) in their study stated that people who watch TV in general are less happy than particular soap operas viewers. Soap operas positively contribute to happiness. Attractiveness of soaps may lie in ‘pseudo-membership of a close-knit social group.’ (p. 5) Also, viewers are presented with everyday problems which can discuss later and add their own solution. Study showed that heavy soap opera viewers are mostly women, extraverted, cooperative and happy. Cooperativeness is shown within portrayed groups, to which cooperative people can empathize.

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3.3.7 Femininity

The usual approach of Korean dramas is to employ the leading female protagonist as the narrator of the story and to portray circumstances from her perspective. In this regard, the study by Lin and Kwan (2005) found that female audiences had a positive response to ‘Asian subtlety’ presented in Korean drama in the context of love and romance. Lin and Tong (2007) show that women are set as the centre and main interest of the story, and male Hong Kong viewers of Korean drama enjoy watching the story through the perspective of a woman. Females in the drama appear as attractive and ‘soft, tender, considerate, delicate and touching’ (p. 104). Another value of femininity portrayed is the ‘will to sacrifice’ for their loved ones. Female leads in the dramas ‘always put their lovers as their first priority and orient themselves around their male partners’ (ibid, p. 107). Even though they have their own careers and working goals, they prioritise their love for their partners. They may give up their career goals for this love. Female protagonists in Korean dramas have traditional views and high moral values (ibid). Even though they are humble and polite, they might not be ‘conservative’. Conservative elements are mixed with the modern values of Korean drama and therefore flavour the traditional (‘Asian’) values with some ‘coolness’. Many Chinese informants in Lin and Tong’s study thought of the female heroines as ‘strong’ and ‘open minded’; they also described the heroines as ‘tough’ and find they often take the initiative to reach their goals. They are usually independent, earn a living for themselves, and sometimes even for their families, and have to face problems by themselves (ibid, p. 108). However, they seek ‘true love’, for which they are willing to make sacrifices. This leads to ‘a hybridised modern woman’s image’ (ibid).

3.3.1 Masculinity

Masculinity is based and maintained by culturally specific and repetitive actions of everyday life. Acting, dressing or speaking, belong among these practices which are performed in particular way specific to gender (Connell, 1995). In context of Confucian tradition, industrialization and militarization, Moon Seung-Sook (2002) used the notion ‘hegemonic masculinity’ to address dominant practices of masculinity in South Korea. 43

According to Cho Heup (2004), in South Korean films emerged the new tendency of showing soft and neutral masculinity. Transformation of South Korean masculinity is well represented by soft male characters that appear in movies. South Korean men are shown of “doing” different masculine acts, according to various socio-cultural contexts. Sun Jung (2011) stated ‘BYJ’s soft masculinity is constructed as a result of the inter-Asian transcultural flows of various masculine forms […] This transcultural hybridization creates a shared imagination of mugukjeok28 pan–East Asian soft masculinity‘ (p. 71). This soft, hybridized, globalized masculinity can reach from South Korea to Japan regardless any cultural borders. This typical masculinity is result of combination of Japanese kawaii masculinity, momjjang29 and American-pop-idol (p. 116). Korean men in Korean dramas are presented as highly fashionable and care for their appearance. For example, they wear makeup (use BB Cream and manliner30), they have trendy groomed hairstyles and accessories. They always seem to have a very clean, shiny and stylish appearance. The typical Korean man presented in Korean dramas also very often openly expresses his emotions and good manners (or will learn such good manners by the end of the series). This feminised picture of the male is called ‘the pretty boy syndrome’, or the kkonminam syndrome31. The term refers to ‘men who are pretty looking and who have smooth fair skin, silky hair, and a feminine manner’ (Jung, 2010, p. 58). Men in the dramas are, unlike the female heroines, portrayed as non-traditional, but desirable and therefore reinforce the traditional values presented by the female character (Lin and Tong, 2008, p. 107). The attractive male in Korean drama is described as ‘caring’, ‘gentle’, ‘handsome’, ‘perfect in every way’, ‘faithful’, ‘kind-hearted’ but not too openly, and also capable. He can sometimes be a little childish, but only to a certain extent, which only makes him look ‘cute’ in the eyes of women. He is understanding and lets many flaws of the female heroine pass unnoticed. Additionally he makes little gestures of affection and goodwill behind her back (ibid, pp. 107-108).

28 mugukjeok (non-nationality)

29 momjjang (body-master)

30 Manliner is an eyeliner applied to men. The term manliner (man’s eyeliner) is commonly used by Hallyu fans, and the product is much used by Korean idols and actors.

31 The Korean term kkonminam comes from kkot (flower) and minam (a beautiful man).

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Table of ‘designated’ values of Korean drama

VALUE DESIGNATED SPECIFICATIONS DIMENSIONS VALUES

Collectivism Less individualism; societal norms; ‘we’ point of view; nationalism, shame

Emphasis on family values; correct moral values for youth; family members; Family friends, spouses, colleagues; non-romantic love; refreshing love between friends, family, teacher and student; multi-dimensional love, connection among Orientedness family members; family warmth; strong sense of family; traditional family virtues ‘CONFUCIANIST’ VALUES Correct moral values for youth; childrens’ respect for parents/elders; married Respect for Elders women’s respect for mother-in-love; cultural affinity; presence of filial piety

Humbleness Asian subtlety; cultural affinity; Asian worldview

In contrary to modern approach; cultural affinity; women as less aggressive Asian Work Ethic then man; polite, obedient and also quite submissive housewives; career men; hard education

Less violence; less sexuality; wider age spectrum; larger audiences; spiritual Less Provocation love; simple touch or eye contact and the lack of intimate shots; multi- dimensional; love is expressed in an ‘Asian way’

UNIVERSALITY Mature but homogeneous style; escapism and recreational activity; larger Easiness audiences; physical love is suppressed; ‘anti western value’

Choice of Genres Many genres; larger audiences; many choices; satisfy every taste

Beautiful Beautiful sceneries and backdrops; beautiful snowy scenery of Nami Island; the Landscapes tourist motivation; scenes from dramas AESTHETICS Fashion; standardized beauty; plastic surgery; trendy clothes; beautiful Beautiful People protagonists; aesthetically, fashionable clothes styles worn by the stars; appealing ‘package’; fashion ‘never out-of-date’

Camera and shooting quality changed perception of country; Product Modern placement; Samsung; LG or Hyundai products such as cars, smart phones, televisions; consumptive behaviour; metropolitan, new cosmopolitan Technology consumptive city lifestyle full of new commodities; new technology and urban settings

Education; bullying; human rights; fight against bullying; emancipation; new Social Justice way of thinking; the social equality; ‘brave’ fight against upsetting cultural norms; new value system; Asian modernity

Emancipated working patterns; new way of thinking; hardworking and strong MODERNITY female, personal efforts and achievements; female career success; ‘brave’ fight Westernized Work against upsetting cultural norms; evoking the individualism; the female leads Ethic are tough, bold, openly expressing their desires and trying to succeed in the working sphere; realism of the scenes covering the modern career women way towards success

New cosmopolitan consumptive city lifestyle full of new commodities,; new Globalized technology and urban settings; ‘sophisticated’ or ‘modern’ style; consumptive Consumer Lifestyle behaviour; metropolitan city life; fashion; beauty; plastic surgery; food; existing and idealized (consumerist) lifestyles

Concept of True New way of thinking; free independent love of choice; accent on individual choice; resistance against pressure to marry wealthy woman from good family; Love fight for the forbidden love; ‘brave’ fight against upsetting cultural norms

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Good and solid storylines; brand of exoticism; well designed; ‘fairy tale’ Narrative Appeal storyline; happily ever after; true love; concept of love before family EXOTIC FAIRY TALE Escapism Escaping from the ‘reality’ to fairy-tale; hard life escape; relaxation Special Experience Special feeling for consuming foreign drama; exotic flavor

Strong emotional affection; longing; strong sense of human touch; fights for the Pure Love forbidden love; sadness; sacrifice

EMOTIONS Korean ‘han’ Collective sentiment of sorrow; nostalgia; resentment; yearning for vengeance

Soundtrack Emotions are reinforced by the background music

Dining culture, togetherness, visiting restaurants, chopsticks, eating from one Gastronomy ‘TYPICAL’ pot KOREAN Language Understanding Korean dramas, taking lessons, hangul knowledge

Soft; tender; considerate; naive; delicate and touching; conservative; will to Female sacrifice for love, for family; traditional mind; own carriers and working goals; FEMININITY orient themselves around their male partners; strong and open minded; tough; Attractiveness taking the initiatives to reach their goals; usually independent; earning money however love before career

Caring; gentle; handsome; perfect in every way; faithful; mean; stubborn; funny; kind-harted; well kempt; born to be rich; understanding; can cook; Male fashionable; supportive; the pretty boy syndrome – has smooth fair skin, silky MASCULINITY Attractiveness hair, and a feminine manner; wear makeup; isn’t afraid to show emotions; cries often; combination of Japanese kawaii masculinity, momjjang and American- pop-idol; pan–East Asian soft masculinity; transcultural hybridization

Table 1 ‘Designated’ values of Korean Drama

Above, I present the table of ‘designated’ values of Korean dramas that can be considered as underlying motivators for consumption and to be consequently reflected in everyday practices of the audiences. This table will help me define which Korean drama values are reflected in the Czech audiences of Korean drama and additionally how are these values reflected by the Czech audiences. This table will also help me to organise data and thus analyse those in the relevant contexts.

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4 Conclusion

The format of Korean drama is much shorter than soap opera, and it generally reaches its ‘happy end’ in an average of twenty episodes. The format is defined by several genres. ‘Love’ is the key ingredient of Korean drama. The format can be accessed online, is basically for free, and also offers the fandom the possibility of joining the ‘fansubbing’ group, which allows the audience to participate in the phenomenon. Czech audiences cannot consume Korean dramas through the TV broadcast; the only available channels are online streaming from official or pirate websites. There are an estimated 1,300 viewers of Korean drama in the Czech Republic (Mazaná, 2014). As the theoretical part shows, TV series and soap operas in general can influence the audience’s attitudes, opinions and actions. It was thus expected that Korean drama might also be reflected in the life of its Czech audience. Korean drama encompasses several values, as illustrated by the review of previously conducted studies on the reception of Korean drama shows. To systemize the analyses, the work defines nine value dimensions, ‘Confucianist’ Values, Universality, Aesthetics, Modernity, Exotic Fairy Tale, Emotions, ‘Typical’ Korean, Femininity, Masculinity and twenty-five ‘designated’ values, which would facilitate further analyses. The theoretical part also introduces Hofstede’s (2017) model of national cultural value dimensions, which serves a comparative purpose in the analytic part of the thesis, allowing for a better understanding of the collisions of audiences’ cultural values and the values of Korean dramas. The study of audiences of Korean dramas is an underestimated and neglected subject in the Czech academic context. It has been studied more thoroughly by academics in the context of Asian audiences. The comprehensive review of literature on the consumption of Korean dramas highlights the importance of this neglected area of audience studies. The work concludes that Korean drama audiences should also be explored in the discourse of Czech media studies. The novelty of such research could be a significant contribution to the academic field of audience studies.

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III. METHODOLOGY

5 Research Design

In this chapter I firstly introduce research objectives and subsequently tools, processes and methods. In this chapter I also advocate the choice of qualitative approach and grounded theory in ethnography as the suitable method to explore which values and how are the values reflected in the Czech audiences’ of Korean dramas.

5.1 Research Objectives

Reasons behind this study were slowly coming to my attention about five years ago. Obviously, back then I didn’t think of studying specifically the audiences of Korean dramas, however I knew my future academic interest will be based within Korean culture. Czech audiences of Korean dramas and dramas values reflection have not yet been studied; therefore I provide first explorative study of the topic. I consider this study as an essential introduction or first look into very complex, quite recent and still growing phenomenon in Czech society. In the theoretical part I explained that Korean drama values can play determining role, influence consumers’ attitudes and opinions, their actions. This study aims to find out what drama designated values are reflected in the life of Czech studied audiences and what are the consequences of those consumed values in the audience’s daily life.

5.2 Research Questions

This explorative study focuses on the social phenomena and thus I’ve decided to use a qualitative approach (Silverman, 2010). The study focus shall be defined by research questions. I want to deeply explore informants’ individual opinions, attitudes and actions in the context of Korean drama ‘designated’ values. This all can be explored only with the knowledge of what values can be consumed by informants, leading to question what values are ‘designated’ in the dramas. I haven’t found any relevant study presenting the values of dramas; thus, I conducted the needed values by literature review of the topic. I suggested the table of ‘designated’ values of Korean dramas. I formulate following research question: 48

- Which ‘designated’ values of Korean dramas are reflected in the studied Czech audiences of Korean drama?

Also, for the deeper understanding of the phenomenon through qualitative optics I add follow- up question:

- How did the studied Czech audiences reflect the ‘designated’ values of Korean drama in the context of the Czech Republic?

This question will help me to explore how values embodied in the Korean dramas are reflected in the everyday life of its Czech consumers. For more valuable results I will also distinguish and regard the cultural national values in the analysis. Both countries’ national value dimensions according Hofstede (2017) were presented in the theoretical part.

5.3 Research Methods

Qualitative method is often used for the purpose of the media and social research. Silverman (2010) compares the method to the everyday life, both are complex and chaotic. Since the purpose of this study is to explore the Korean drama values’ reflection on the Czech audiences, I’ve decided to employ the qualitative approach. The qualitative method can help to explain specific phenomenon through the individual view point of the respondents. The researcher should not firstly predict the outcome but rather try to understand the phenomenon in its full depth and complexity (Silverman, 1997).

5.3.1 Grounded Theory in Ethnography

For research purpose I’ve decided to use method called Grounded Theory in Ethnography (Charmaz and Mitchell, 2001). In this part I will discuss how these two approaches are compatible and how the research will look like in the practical use, and what are its pros and cons. Firstly, I will introduce both approaches separately and indicate my reasons for the use of this method. This method is rarely used within the audience research practice, thus I pay special attention to fully explain my reasons to use it and my steps within its application.

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Ethnography of Media Audiences

Objective of the study and the especially second stated research question directly suggest the qualitative exploration of the specific subculture. Reception analysis or rather as described by Ang ethnography of media audiences (1990, p. 243) is suitable method for the study’s objectives – to explore the audiences attitudes, opinions and actions. To explore individual reflections of audiences would be very hard to study with quantitative data. Ethnography in general is as ‘child’ of anthropology not considered as simply another methodological approach; it is the way of researching. Ethnography makes the researcher discover another level of interpretation using ‘thick description’, thanks to which the researcher can examine the symbolism of the attitudes, life experiences of the members of the subculture, that are shifted, and depend on the environment they live in (Moores, 1993; Geertz, 1973). Ethnography aims to describe an insider's depiction of the studied world. This approach is most common within the soap opera audience research probably because it focuses on different reactions in different societal structures within their everyday media consumption. It focuses on publics with specific and also often shared experience (McQuail, 2000). The centre of the interest is the process of media use, and everyday practice associated with the use. The public of specific genres, such as of soap opera, often create so called ‘interpretative community’ which share about the same experiences, discourses and frameworks for media readings and interpretations (McQuail, 2000, p. 329). Ang (1990), a fundamental advocate of ethnography approach of soap opera audience research adds that today it is difficult to ‘examine with too formalized methods: it is an ethnographic approach that can best capture and respect them in their multi-facetedness […] a critical perspective that combines a radical empiricism with open-ended theorizing may be one of the best stances we can take up’ (Ang, 1990, p. 257, 258). Ang also suggests that the researcher should employ ethnography while entering a new phenomenon. Very commonly is with the ethnography approach also used the participant observation. It helps the researcher to participate on the phenomenon, become part of the audience which then offers closer ‘inside’ look into the problematic (ibid). Charmaz adds that ethnography ‘often includes supplementary data from documents, diagrams, maps, photographs, and, occasionally, formal interviews and questionnaires’ (2006, p. 21). The researcher should participate on the culture and stay open to the observed situation (ibid).

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Grounded Theory

The qualitative method of grounded theory was first used by Glaser and Strauss (1967). It is a set of systematic inductive methods that shall guide a researcher through a study. These guidelines should help the researcher to define categories, to connect these categories and to establish relationships among them. The theory itself is found in the end of this process, thus the grounded theory. This approach should researcher use while he/she wants to study a process, not structure (Charmaz, 2006). While Glaser argued for the ‘classical’ grounded theory, Strauss and Corbin worked on the ‘evolved’ one. Kathy Charmaz (2006) then developed ‘constructivist’ grounded theory. Both, Strauss and Glaser ‘advocated delaying the literature review to avoid seeing the world through the lens of extant ideas’ (Charmaz, 2006, p. 6). They started with the data and slowly through its conceptualizing progressed to the final theory. The theory had to meet the criteria, such as usefulness, a close fit with data, it should be long-lasting and relevant even after the passed time, it should complexly explain the studied area and present new, fresh point of view of studied area. They argued for the non-assumptive, objective theory. The literature review would mislead researchers from discovering the ‘pure’ non-assumptive theory. Both argued that the qualitative method can be systematic, and analysis and data collections phases don’t have to be worked on separately (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). On the contrary, Charmaz suggest in her constructivist approach of Grounded theory that the previously conducted literature review can be helpful to not get lost within the paths the research takes, or to be able view the concepts contextually. It is also according to Charmaz impossible to extract the subjectivity completely out of the research, since the researcher has an opinion and his/her experiences and opinions are based on the particular environment, he/she directly communicates with respondents and his/her subjectivity cannot be simply ‘turned off’ and completely ‘cut off’ from the analysis and data collection. The ‘purity’ or objectivity of the grounded theory as Strauss and Glaser suggests is according to Charmaz very hard if not impossible to contain. The final theory is in the end the view point, the interpretation of researcher (Charmaz, 2006; 2014; Ramalho, et al., 2015).

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Grounded Theory in Ethnography (GTE)

This study employs grounded theory in ethnography (further as GTE) since this combination creates ideal method to reach the determined objective. This approach was introduced by Kathy Charmaz and Richard Mitchell (2001) to help ethnographers to conduct systematic and efficient research. Both methods originate from Chicago School sociology. This study focuses on soap opera, specifically on the media consumption and the audiences’ everyday practice. It is also a first look into the phenomenon of Korean drama in context of the Czech Republic. It employs participant observation thus works with the ‘inside’ look and additionally with diagrams and questionnaires. My involvement with the phenomenon indicates my ability to provide the ‘inside’ look. It also indicates a disadvantage of being biased; again here can be the grounded theory’s systematization of research processes helpful to explore the topic thoughtfully using the new ‘fresh’ optics. There is no manual for GTE but it differs from ethnography from the beginning of the research. ‘Grounded theory ethnography gives priority to the studied phenomenon or process- rather than to a description of a setting’ (Charmaz, 2006, p. 22). Thus, grounded theory ethnographers focus from the beginning of the research on the conceptual translation of the studied area. They also similarly to ethnography proceed through the studied area to reach better, deeper understanding of the phenomenon they focus on (ibid). Regarding the ethnographical tradition, GTE expects larger amount of data and suggests the researcher makes low level description and list of unintegrated categories (Charmaz, 2006, p. 23). Charmaz explains how the grounded theory helps the ethnographer to reach more complete findings than simple ethnography of media audience. Grounded theory primer focus on processes can help the researcher to make connections between the selective parts of studied area. This comparative method typical for grounded theory guides ethnographers ‘1) to compare data with data from the beginning of the research, not after all the data are collected, 2) to compare data with emerging categories, and 3) to demonstrate relations between concepts and categories’ (Charmaz, 2006, p. 23). Even though the ethnographic approach asks for the full participation of the researcher, grounded theory in ethnography allows the researcher overcome the limits of such condition and improve their research inquiry (ibid). From another point of view, this combination of two approaches also helps to

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overcome the limits of the grounded theory that usually isn’t fully concerned with the surrounding scenes (ibid). Grounded theory makes the ethnographer’s work easier by providing guidelines for data collection and analysis. According to the grounded theory researcher should migrate between the data and analysis and also return to the field to collect more specified data to refine the incipient theoretical framework. The researcher can then avoid the most frequently criticized problems of ethnography: ‘1) accusations of uncritically adopting research participants' views, 2) lengthy unfocused forays into the field setting, 3) superficial, random data collection, and 4) reliance on stock disciplinary categories’ (ibid). The grounded theory is often only ‘description’ and ethnography can help to deepen the research. Ethnography is often facing the theoretical and analytic difficulties and grounded theory can help to systemize the research (Charmaz and Mitchell, 2001).

5.4 Data Collection

For about eight years I’ve watched Korean dramas. My own interest in the phenomenon of Hallyu brought me to participant observation already back in 2013. I observed the Hallyu fans at the K-pop contest and documented the atmosphere of the camera. I’ve repeatedly discussed the phenomenon of Korean drama in what I call the ‘improvised focus groups’ consisted of my close friends (5 females), who are also part of the audience of Korean dramas. Through these discussions over Korean dramas I slowly proceeded from an abstract interest to the first glimpses of the research focus. Most importantly, the discussions helped me to discover the thoughts of others and thus to objectivise my point of view since I myself am biased as part of the audience. Secondly, it helped me to look into the issue with ‘maximum depth’, since my friends are not ashamed in front of me. We know each other well and thus they didn’t have to hold back with their opinions, suggestions and experiences. Before I started with the research, I had to think about what Korean drama is in the context of the media text. This let me to consider all three important ingredients of any soap opera – production, product and audience (Kellner, 1995). This study essentially can’t explore all of them. In 2016 I started to gather first data through pilot interviews with two respondents. Those interviews helped me to design first concept of research, even though I

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continuously changed it. The pilot interviews and first drafts led me to change the way I thought about this study. Instead of production I started to focus on Korean drama and the Czech audience. I understand that all three mentioned parts create the phenomenon all together, thus for a comprehensive understanding of Korean dramas consumption by Czech audiences I strongly suggest the further analyses of the third ingredient, the production of Korean drama. However, I briefly regarded production in the theoretical part and final discussion. Nevertheless I decided to explore the audience and the product. This decision was preceded by interesting leads from pilot interviews which clarified themes of the study. I specifically found that both my respondents from pilot interviews were affected by the values of Korean drama. When I returned to the field I continued my interviews with the specific interest in mind. At that point I conducted the ‘list of designated values’ and intentionally directed the interview towards those. I’ve also kept myself in contact with my respondents so I could broaden the data. I also answered the questions designed by Mitchell to initiate inquiry (see Charmaz and Mitchell, 2001, p. 24) as suggested by Charmaz for GTE researchers. Most interviews were gathered in 2017. Half way through of my interviews’ dates, I went to AsianStar Olomouc Party to observe some of my participants (some of them co-organized it and some visited it) and Hallyu community in general.

5.4.1 Methods of Data Collection

The GTE encourages researchers to gather rich data (Charmaz and Mitchell, 2001). This research was conducted mainly over the years 2016 – 2017 in the Czech Republic. In the end of reviewing I reached the number of twenty two full-length intensive in-depth interviews (Charmaz, 2006). The individual interviews took from one to four hours, depending on the time, will and talkativeness of each respondent. Among Czech population, only less than 10 % ever heard of Hallyu (Mazaná, 2014, p. 50) and only 65 % of the supporters of Hallyu knew Korean drama (ibid, p. 58). These data imply that the number of Korean drama audiences is rather small. Considering there are about 2000 of Hallyu followers, the 65 % would make roughly 1300 of Hallyu fans who ever know Korean drama. This brought me to conclusion that the researched audience is quite small, which complicated the search for respondents, thus required specifically directed approach and took some time. 54

I used several methods to recruit new respondents. Firstly, I tried to post advertisements hoping for feedback. I asked some managers of webs and Facebook groups focusing on Asia, Korea, K-pop or Korean drama, such as AsianStar, AsianStyle, Korejské seriály, Czech Hallyu Wave to post my add. However, only one Korean drama fan contacted me back. Additionally, it also took me about another month to finally schedule the meeting with this respondent. At that point I realized how I grossly underestimated the entire recruitment process. I had to be smarter and therefore instead of the ‘advertising’, waiting for the recipients’ ‘action’ I changed my method. I started to search through Facebook fan pages I was part of such as Czech Hallyu Wave, and became member of some other Facebook private communities, such as Korejská dramata, k-dorama/movie cz komunita, k-pop & k-dramas Czech where I partly randomly32 selected several people to whom I sent private message with the informal text explaining what I do, whom I’m searching for and asking them for their help. This method was effective and most of recipients answered the message – sometimes almost ‘eager’ to help. I was reminded the extrovertness and cooperativeness of the viewers of Korean dramas which Lu and Argyle (1993) found in their study. Also during interviews I asked my respondents if they knew someone and they sometimes introduced me to another viewer. I started to plan meetings and continued with the snowball technique (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). I also discovered avid fans among my students at high school. I asked them for the interview and tips among their friends. Like that, respondent’s number grew, however I faced one problem: I still didn’t have male respondents. This also important contextual information for the study. Finally, at one point, male K-popper of Vietnamese ethnicity I previously addressed with my advertisement, answered positively. During our interview he suggested his ethnic Vietnamese friend as possible respondent. The hardest part was to find the ethnic Czech male. I went to the AsianStar party in Olomouc, to specifically ‘hunt’ for one. Luckily, I found a student of Korean studies, who did watch Korean drama regularly. However, that time I realized how few Czech males possibly watch Korean drama. I asked almost all men present in the club (about 20), and only one watched Korean drama regularly. One was by his words only ‘starting’ and third was Slovakian.

32 If they were tagged on the picture or if they liked a post they were visible to me. 55

I asked my respondents to choose the location familiar to them, since I wanted them to feel as comfortable as possible. I didn’t want them to face new, unknown environment that could cause them stress. Thus, I chose to approach them familiarly, usually not using polite addressing33. The interviews took place in cafes all over the Czech Republic (Praha, Brno, Olomouc, Uherské Hradiště, Přerov, Hodonín, Mikulčice, Kroměříž). The interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. I also used the interview guide (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002), the set of topics which helped to organize and specify the interview themes. It helped me to ask the relevant questions and basically direct the interview. I also asked the interviewee to fill the standardized questionnaire. All interviews were conducted in the Czech language. I coded the data in English and all originally Czech direct quotes in the analytic part are also translated to English. Majority of interviews were conducted face to face with only exception – I had an opportunity to conduct the interview with the manager of K-dorama/movie CZ komunita Facebook community, which is followed by the biggest number of fans (505) among all the communities. This respondent however temporarily studied in the USA. Since she would make valuable informant I’ve decided to make an exception and interviewed her online through Skype. I didn’t offer any financial reward nor did I give out presents to recruit respondents. To show my gratitude I paid for their expenses at Cafe’s during our interviews.

33 I used the polite speech only in the three cases, when the respondents were older than me or with my students, who were used to polite speech with me from the school. 56

In-depth Interviews

In-depth interviewing is very common and useful data-gathering method applied within qualitative approaches. ‘The in-depth nature of an intensive interview fosters eliciting each participant's interpretation’ (Charmaz, 2006). The researcher looks for the respondent’s experiences in everyday life that the researcher interprets in the context of a specific topic. The interviewer should be a good listener, understanding, and patient. If needed point to the direction and support the interviewee, but also should be critical and read between lines. Respondents won’t tell us what the problem is directly, they will tell us what they see as problem, what they think we want to hear or should know (Glaser, 1992). At the beginning of the interview I explained the basics of my work. I made sure to ask mostly the open-ended questions. Later in the interview I directed respondent towards the specific themes.

Participant Observation

Very commonly the GTE is used together with the participant observation. It helps the researcher to participate on the phenomenon, to become part of the audiences and gain the insider’s look. Charmaz (2006) adds that ethnography ‘often includes supplementary data from documents, diagrams, maps, photographs, and, occasionally, formal interviews and questionnaires’ (p. 21). The researcher should participate on the culture and stay open to the observed situation (ibid). I will reflect the results of the observation during the analyses.

Standardized Questionnaire

At the beginning of each interview I introduced the standardized questionnaire to interviewee. Originally, I intended to do so at the end, but during the first interview I found out that the list on dramas presented on the questionnaire helped respondents to orient in them, therefore I decided to provide and explained the questionnaire at the beginning. It laid on a table between us and I asked the respondent to fill it later at home. Some respondents received digitalized Word version of the questionnaire. Few respondents filled the questionnaire on the spot, because they brought their ‘drama wish lists’ with them on the phone or just remembered the names of the dramas. However most of the respondents chose to take it home.

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5.5 Research Sample

Ethnographical approach asks for the diverse respondents that will be able to offer individual, new and fresh point of views (Moores, 1993). Grounded theory approach suggests the researcher does not use any selective segregation and lets the process progress naturally and evolutionarily (Charmaz, 2006). Even though, regarding the research focus I decided to apply few criteria. First, I draw a ‘mind map’ of what selection of respondents would provide the required diversity of sample. I figured out the sample should consist of males and females, wide age range, different occupational statuses, different educational levels, Czech and Vietnamese ethnicity, and of various locations of respondents. The respondents had to be Czechs and had to watch Korean drama for at least one year. I was searching for as divers sample as possible. I also tried to reach demographically representative sample with regard to demography of the Czech audience of Korean drama presented by Mazaná (2014)

5.6 Memo-making

In consistence of GTE I created the memo-making diary. Memo-making is ‘the crucial step between coding and a first draft of paper’, the ‘conversations with self’ (Charmaz and Mitchell, 2001, p. 167). The memos indicate analytic interpretation of the collected data. The memo diary is tool serving better, steadier orientation in the researched topic. Memos can be changed, they can be experimented with, and they can also serve as a diary of progress. Memos can help us make sense out of the uncompleted and confused flashes of ideas, reach deeper in the topic. The researcher can use the memo diary for explicit comparisons ‘between individual and individual or between incident and incident’ (ibid) In consistence of GTE I created the memo-making diary and used it to remark my ideas, thoughts and to clarify the research process. I naturally wrote notes, comparisons, tables and described all sorts of situations and feelings. The data helped me to connect the categories and link the ‘social world’ of feelings with the findings. I haven’t used the diary during the interviews since I didn’t want to distract the interviewees and make them feel judged by making notes ‘about them’. I went through the interviews when they ended while they were still fresh, and wrote down notes of ideas the interview brought up to me.

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5.7 Ethical Principles of Data Collection

All my respondents were assured at the start of the interview of complete anonymity. However majority of my respondents remarked that the anonymity is not needed. This also carries important information for the further analyses, their confidence implies at least part of my respondents were not ashamed to watch Korean drama. Nevertheless, because of sensitive information34 I changed the names of my respondents. I also let them choose their pseudonyms so that they would feel more connected to the study and also to ease the atmosphere. Some didn’t care and let me choose for them; some had great fun choosing it. The chosen pseudonym also provided me with complementary information – what character, idol they are fan of or whom they wish to be. All my respondents participated on my research by their own will and I only approached people older 15 years old. The transcribed interviews for the reasons stated above won’t be opened for the public.

5.8 Self-reflection and Bias

I’ve watched Korean dramas since 2009. First Korean drama I’ve seen was Boys Over Flowers and since that time, in combination with consumption of other Korean popular media contents, such as K-pop and Variety Shows, I count myself as one of the ‘oldest’ Czech Hallyu consumers. All the mentioned awoken my interest in Korea and Asia in general. I use Korean cosmetics, cook Korean food, intentionally search for Korean restaurants and shops with Korean ingredients, I order from the Korean online shops. My interest in Korean culture inspired me to visit South Korea (2014) as an exchange student of media studies and Korean culture where I gathered the material for the independent documentary35 presenting the issues of Korean society. Dorothy Anger (1999) points out, it is not necessary only recommended for the researcher to be part of the studied community. She though recommends watching soap opera and becoming part of the community for the researcher to gain the deeper insight into the topic and also better contextual ‘knowledge’ of

34 For example about the sexual orientation.

35 Trailer available at: https://vimeo.com/98199672

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the programs or characters. The mentioned knowledge can be useful not just in the analytic part of the study but also while conducting the interviews36. It is even more important to have deeper knowledge of the context since this study explores transnational consumption. My intensive participation might be on the other hand limiting in the terms of objectivity and biases. I have to be careful so that I don’t ‘forcefully’ apply my own perspective on the concepts and thus interpret the findings only through my experience.

5.9 Data Analysis

As GTE suggests, theory is conducted through data coding. The data are repetitively analysed, conceptualised and recomposed. The final theory is therefore the result of the repeated conceptualization of the data. ‘Grounded theory codes arise from analysing the data, rather than from applying concepts from earlier works to data’ (Charmaz and Mitchell, 2001, p. 165). This approach lets me ‘borrow’ new, fresh pair of eyes and look for the new concepts. The limitation of ethnography is that the researcher is as part of the community biased. Thus the ‘new’ point of view might help the ethnographer to look for new connections and concepts. On the other hand as an ‘insider’ I am still able to later compare the concepts with the complementary data and look into the concepts and categories more closely. To code the data I’ve used program for qualitative data analysis – ATLAS.ti. I analyzed the data in two phases since both research questions asked for different coding. The first research question is defined by the ‘designated’ values. Second has qualitative character and is open to deeper analyses. Thus, I modified the typical grounded theory process and worked with two groups of codes. The researcher ‘can adopt and adapt grounded theory to increase the analytic incisiveness of their studies’ (Charmaz and Mitchell, 2001, p. 160). In conformity with my research questions, before the open coding as suggested by grounded theory I first through closed coding reorganized the data among the nine value dimensions previously defined by the extensive literature review (Femininity, Emotions,

36 For example if the respondent starts to talk about how City Hunter fell in love with Suzy and the researcher doesn’t know, that the respondent refers to Lee Min-Ho, an actor and representative of the main character of the Korean drama City Hunter, the researcher would probably didn’t know what question should follow because he/she wouldn’t understand the context behind the sentence.

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Universality, etc). I looked for these closed codes representations in the transcribed interviews. It is needed to say, that the correct connotative interpretation of values was often not ‘visible’ even though I tried to direct the interviews towards the defined values dimensions, still, I had to also ‘read between the lines’ when coding the interviews. Through this first phase of coding I was able to answer first research question and define which values are reflected (intentionally or unintentionally) by the Czech audiences. I also, similarly as Hofstede (2017), defined weather is each value received positively, negatively or neutrally by adding the +/- signs next to the indicators.

Assigned Assigned value Marika’s statement ‘designated’ value dimension

I prefer psychological movies or thrillers, such as where there is Universality Choice of genres (+) more tension and thinking.

I tell myself that maybe it's because ‘The Street’ is so close to Special experience (+) Exotic Fairy Tale me that I might experience it myself, and I do not need to look at it again on the screen. I know it...

Table 2 Phase1: Example of closed coding and reorganization of the data

Secondly, I open-coded the data into the concepts, to be able to answer the second research question. I used line-by-line coding as is mostly used by the grounded theory researchers. Through the open coding, the initial stage of coding is the researcher able to discover new units and therefore even new concepts leading to the new theories.

Respondent’s statement Assigned concepts

...as a European, I was not used to it, and yet the Korean Reflecting her European identity and binary opposition drama attracted me more. It was so dynamic and I could Asian/European perception; Reflection of Us/Them; more ‘live’ the plot and understand the plot. Attractive value stands within plot; common ‘language’ of KD, emotional realism

Table 3 Phase 2: Example of open coding and line-by-line coding

After the initial stage I proceeded to focused coding and started to specify my interest and organized data into the more relevant more comprehensive categories with the specific focus on the reflection of the Korean dramas’ values by the Czech audiences. The categories

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serve as boxes for several concepts. ‘These codes account for the most data and categorize them more precisely than other codes’ (Charmaz and Mitchell, 2001, p. 167). The focused coding helps to organize the big amount of the data into the coherent frameworks. The researcher then comes back and forth within the whole process and also returns to the field to add more relevant data.

Category Assigned concepts

Attractive Korean Czech gender binarity, Czech male egoism, Despotic Czech father issue, Czech male machos, males vs. unattractive Czech male intolerance, Czech male irresponsibility – father role in family, Korean gender Czech males proximity, Korean male feminization is welcomed, Korean male understanding, Korean male tolerance, Korean male positive emotionality

Table 4 Example of focused coding, categorization of concepts

The axial coding helps to relate categories to subcategories thanks to constant comparisons (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). To define the categories, Strauss and Corbin introduced paradigm model containing the main phases: (1) Causal conditions, (2) Phenomenon, (3) Context, (4) Intervening conditions, (5) Action strategies, (6) Consequences (ibid. p. 72).

Context and intervening conditions

Casual conditions Phenomenon Consequences

Action strategies

Figure 3 Diagram of coding paradigm by Strauss and Corbin (Böhm, 2004, p. 272)

After the focused coding comes the theoretical coding. Glaser (1978) introduced theoretical codes as conceptualizing ‘how the substantive codes may relate to each other as

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hypotheses to be integrated into a theory.’ (p. 72). I then tried to find the relationships between the categories from the focused coding and create narrative about central categories. I thus compared the theories with the complementary data provided by observation and the questionnaire. Most importantly, I also compared the final theoretical hypothesis with Hofstede’s (2017) model of national cultural value dimensions and also with the results of first phases of coding – I also considered the table of positively/negatively/neutrally reflected Korean dramas’ values in the studied audiences.

Interviews

9 K-drama value dimensions

Values reflected by audiences +/- 6 Hofstede’s value dimensions

Theoretical hypothesis

Analysis Results

Figure 4 Diagram of the analysis process of the conducted interviews

5.10 Limitations

There are several limitations of the methods I’ve chosen for the data analyses. I will now present those in my eyes most problematic. What people say they do may differ from what they really do, or don’t do. The limitation of qualitative interviews stands with the researcher’s dependence on respondent’s words. Sometimes they might say they do things they wish to do, they might be influenced by the societal norms, might not want to be judged

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or might want to show off. The researcher has to be empathetic enough to be able to distinguish between the own opinions, conditioned opinions and statements. National values, drama values, individuals’ values are not possible to distinguish from each other. I cannot be absolutely sure which value is determined by Korean dramas. For example if my respondents were attracted to Korean men even before watching drama or if it is the Korean drama value affecting my respondents’ preferences. The values could also be transmitted through the consumption of other media contents next to dramas, for example the variety shows, K-pop videos, or even through experiences with Korean culture, etc. Therefore I beforehand identified the drama values and also interpreted the data with the Korean drama values as the main focus. In other words, I do not exclude these possibilities of different factors influencing my respondents’ attitudes, opinions and actions; however I explain which previously defined drama values were reflected by my respondents. Another limitation of the analyses was the original Czech language of my respondents. Even though I coded the whole data in the English, which sometimes was quite unnatural, in the end I faced the problem of bilingualism of the data. Some words and concepts have different meaning in each language. The concepts and categories were in English and the interviews in the Czech. I found quite problematic to translate the key parts of the interviews to English with the same exact connotations. The Czech colourful language of my respondents lost its individual, original feel in the generalizing English translation. Another limitation was time spent on the interviews. I’ve noticed that with the respondents who had time for me reserved and weren’t limited by the other plans after the interviews, I was able to talk much more thoughtfully, make sure, how they exactly mean what they say and if I understand it well thus I was able to find more valuable data. The interviewees who rushed, didn’t think deeply enough about the topics and it was also hard for me to look for hidden meanings and read in-between the lines of the interviews. Last however important limitation stands with the method of recruiting the respondents. In the beginning I was only able to recruit my respondents through the Facebook. My respondents were connected by the ownership of Facebook account which could have excluded some interesting respondents, who do not have Facebook. I thus also used the snowball technique and was able to find older respondent, for example Jana, the 48 years old neurologist or student Marika who does not have Facebook account.

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IV. FINDINGS 6 Introduction to Studied Czech Audiences

Pseudonym Level of Time Age Occupation Marital Status Ethnicity Platform(s) (Sex) Education Period

Myasintv.se Aliee (f) 17 High school Student In relationship Czech 5 Kissasian.ch Viki.com Epdrama.com An (f) 23 Bc. Librarian Single Czech 5 Viki.com Kdrama.net Baby (f) 18 High school Student In relationship Czech 6 Downloading… Gommie (f) 18 High school Student Single Czech 5 Viki.com Kissasian.ch Marika (f) 20 Bc.* Student Single Czech 4 Myasintv.se G-Dragon (m) 18 High school Student Single Vietnamese 2,5 Kissasian.ch Doctor/ Dramafever.com Jana (f) 48 MUDr. Ph.D.. Single Czech 4 Kissasian.ch Neurologist Dramafire.info Viki.com Jandi (f) 19 High school Student Single Czech 4 Gooddrama.to Myasintv.se Gooddrama.to Ester (f) 20 High school Etiquette printer Single Czech 8 Kissasian.ch Dramalike.tv Myasintv.se Ivan (m) 20 Bc.* Student Single Czech 2 Viki.com Downloading… Kissasian.ch Maruška (f) 23 Bc.* Student Single Czech 1,5 Dailymotion.com Unni (f) 24 Bc. Dancer Single Czech 4 Online search Coffe princess (f) 32 Ing. Editor Single Czech 5 Dramago.com Viki.com Sanghee (f) 22 Bc.* Student/Manager Single Czech 8 Dramalove.tv Myasintv.se Bára (f) 16 High school Student Single Vietnamese 4 Kissasian.ch Milan (m) 17 High school Student Single Vietnamese 3 Ondramanice.io Kissasian.ch Joone (f) 17 High school Student Single Czech 5 Myasintv.se Kissasian.ch RonieB (f) 20 Higher education Student In relationship Czech 3 Viki.com E-shop Viki.com Aera (f) 20 High school Single Czech 4 kshow123.net saleswoman Downloading… Goblin’s Bride (f) 35 High school Redactor Single Czech 10 Downloading… Martina (f) 23 High school Receptionist Single Czech 1 Myasintv.se Waitress/ Tereza (f) 28 High school Single Czech 4 Gooddrama.to Receptionist Myasintv.se

*Not yet finished Table 5 Respondents: basic demographic data of the respondents

The respondents as described in the methodological part were all of Czech nationality nineteen ethnic Czech, three ethnic Vietnamese, aged from 16-48, most of them already finished high school education, eight were university students or already finished university studies, one had post gradual education and ten of my respondents were working. There were nineteen females and three males.

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Ethnicity

The sample consists mostly of the ethnic Czechs (Caucasians) – 86% of research sample (19), and ethnical group of Czech Vietnamese – 14% of research sample (3). In 2014 were in the Czech Republic about 68 thousand ethnic Vietnamese out of 10, 6 millions of Czechs (CZSO, 2015) which makes 0, 64% per population. The estimated number of ethnic Vietnamese in the Czech Republic is much lower than the percentage of the ethnic Vietnamese in my research. Referring the cultural proximity theory (Straubhaar, 1991; 2003), I assume that the ethnic Vietnamese through the similarities of Asian cultural heritage connect with the Korean media content easier than the ethnic Czechs or other ethnic groups in the Czech. Thus, the number of Vietnamese in my research sample is higher than the demographic sample of population I have chosen to conclude only ethnic Vietnamese within the research sample and exclude other significant minorities, such as Slovaks, or Ukrainians.

Gender

The research sample consists of 3 males (14%) and 19 females (86%). I was mostly looking for women since women are soap operas’ most faithful consumers (Morley, 1986). The data of Mazaná show that 83% of Hallyu fans are female and 17% are male. Unfortunately, her research is not specific in the percentage of representatives of both genders among the audience of Korean drama. However, as I explained earlier, the difficulty to find male respondents I had through the recruitment process could mean, that the gender representation of researched public is even more unbalanced than I previously expected. Based on the male respondents’ recruitment difficulties I suspect that the number of males is even lower than the data suggest, thus the 86/14 ratio of my respondents seem acceptable, compared the 83/17 ration of the Hallyu fans according to data of Mazaná.

Location

Because of the limited number of Korean drama viewers in the Czech Republic, and since I aimed to reach as divers sample as possible, I’ve decided not to specify the location. The final sample contains respondents from most of the Czech Republic regions.

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Age

According to quantitative research of Mazaná, the age scale of her respondents ranged from 10 to 59 years old (2014, p. 51). My respondents’ age range was from 16 to 48 years old. Similarly to her data, the largest groups created teenagers and people in their twenties’. Age mean of my respondents is 22, 64 year old. According to Brenda Chan’s (2007) study are younger waivers affected by the dramas more intensively then the older viewers.

Occupation, Level of Education and Marital Status

The research sample consists mostly of students (13), and also of employed people (10). There are eight high school students and four university students. It is worth to mention that most of my respondents are single and only three are in relationship. Given the low age average of my respondents, it is not surprising none of them are married. The interests of the respondents’ divers, some are studying the field connected to Asia, some study or work in completely different areas.

Consumption

All of my respondents had to watch Korean drama at least for a year, so that they could have been possibly penetrated by its values. As was presented in the literature review, according the study of Kusumasari (2017), the intensity of watching especially by adolescents intensifies the K-style imitation behaviour. Even though the intensity of viewing is not primer focus of this paper, to understand the respondents better and in accordance with GTE method, intensity of viewing was clarified by the standardized questionnaire. My respondents watched Korean drama in different intensity. The intensity and the time period of watching Korean drama could also affect the strength of how much the drama leaked into the respondents’ daily life, attitudes, opinions and actions (see Gerbner and Gross, 1976). In the following table I present the data conducted through the questionnaires, where the respondents could chose from the options I watch Korean drama ‘daily’ (22%), ‘three times a week’ (36%), and ‘sometimes’ (36%) and they also marked the dramas they heard of and those they watched. This gave me the complementary knowledge how intensively the studied audiences have watched Korean dramas.

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Figure 5 Drama I know/watched ratio

The graph shows Gommie knew and watched most of the dramas on the list37 from her five years of daily viewing. She was thus consuming the dramas the most intensively. Sanghee who has watched the dramas for eight years weekly knew, because of the long-term consumption and time spent with dramas, many of them, however did not consume the dramas as intensively as Gommie. Jana watched Korean dramas weekly for four years and watched the same amount as Sanghee. Jandi and Tereza watched both for four years dramas quite intensively. In addition I also asked the respondents to add other dramas they watched and were not listed in questionnaire, however it was conditioned by the time the respondents could/wanted to spent on it, therefore those data only serve me for better orientation. I for example found that Gommie out all of my respondents watched the most dramas reaching unbelievable 168 dramas per five years and as she stated, not surprisingly she watches the drama daily; the second most dramas watched RonnieB scoring 98 dramas during past three years. I will mostly focus on the named avid viewers through the analyses.

37 I listed the dramas which were in several websites mentioned as top ten, therefore supposedly the most popular ones.

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7 Values Reflected in the Studied Czech Audiences

Which ‘designated’ values of Korean dramas are reflected in the studied Czech audiences of Korean drama? Through the first phase of data analyses I found that all nine value dimensions of Korean drama and all ‘designated’ values were at least partly reflected in the studied audiences. Some values were reflected more intensively and some less. Additionally, some values were viewed positively and some negatively by my respondents. The positive and negative connotations of my respondents carry important information for further analyses. I will now present the answer to the first research question through the table of ‘designated’ values which were reflected in the studied audiences. I would like to stress, this table does not have the ambition of quantitative research. I fully realize that the epistemological limits of the method do not let me apply the results to the Czech audiences in general.

Negative Neutral Positive

Table 6 ‘Designated’ values reflected in studied audiences

The table shows that my respondents reflected the values of ‘Confucianist’ Values dimension out of all the dimensions most negatively or neutrally. Specifically the ‘designated’ value of Respect for Elders and Asian Work Ethic were criticized the most. The Aesthetics value dimension, specifically the Beautiful People was reflected the most positively. The respondents also appreciated Choice of Genres value or Social Justice. 69

How did the studied Czech audiences reflect the ‘designated’ values of Korean drama in the context of the Czech Republic?

In this part I introduce the results of the second phase of coding. The resulting categories present my theoretical suggestions, understandings and interpretations of the most relevant concepts. This thesis’ capacity doesn’t allow me to focus on the all ‘designated’ values deeply enough. Basically, for every value dimension I’ve assigned one category, sometimes two, when the respondents and the coding emphasized more complex, relevant or simply interesting results. However I still briefly interpret all the ‘designated’ values. Thus, in the following text I will pay more attention to the value dimensions and value categories which were reflected more intensively in and by the studied audiences. In every category I will specifically within the interpretation focus on the opinions, attitudes and actins of my respondents. I would like to also stress that the ‘designated’ values do not appear as an individual separate units. They are connected and therefore are also consumed and reflected as a mix of values not just as a separate values standing side by side. Consequently I analyze and interpret the data also connectively. Through the second phase of theoretical coding following categories emerged:

Value Dimension Category Collision of Cultures ‘CONFUCIANIST’ VALUES Individual before Collective ‘Comfortable’ before ‘Korean’ Experiencing the ‘Authentic Korea’: Tasting Korea ‘TYPICAL’ KOREAN Experiencing the ‘Authentic Korea’: Talking Korea UNIVERSALITY Spoiling the Audiences Dream Comes True: Living Korea AESTHETICS Asian is ‘Sexy’: Shift in Perception of Beauty MODERNITY Meeting the Good Old ‘Western’ Friend Ontologically Secured Escape from Reality to ‘Familiarly Special’ EXOTIC FAIRY TALE Declaration of ‘Peculiarity’ EMOTIONS Even the Prince Cries: Reminder of One’s Emotional-Self FEMININITY Korean Better Deal: Strong Heroine New Perception of Masculinity MASCULINITY Appealing Korean Gender Proximity

Table 7 Results of the theoretical coding

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7.1 ‘Confucianist’ Values

7.1.1 Collision of Cultures

This chapter covers the ‘Confucianist’ Values dimension which consists of ‘designated’ Collectivism value, Family Orientedness value, Respect for Elders value, Humbleness value and Asian Work Ethic value. The value dimension of ‘Confucianist’ Values is quite broad and its specific ‘designated’ values intertwine each other and also other value dimensions. The study reviled that ‘Confucianist’ Values are reflected both, positively and negatively by my respondents; some appreciate them, sometimes even admire them and claimed to be motivated by them while at the same time they don’t wish for such values in their lives. Some of my respondents considered them demanding, restraining and hard to live with. The ‘Confucianist’ values were therefore the only value dimension which was not reflected mostly positively. When it comes to Respect for Elders value, most of my respondents didn’t reflect it as positive value if as extreme as is presented in dramas. Most of my respondents agreed that respect is important and they often after watching drama think about how they should appreciate their parents more, the drama is therefore inspirational in that sense; however there is a limit to their respect. They wouldn’t for example let their parents talk that much into their life and love affairs. Also, the respect shouldn’t be matter of course, it should be earned.

Respect is all right but to some extent. (Ivan, 20y, Korean language student, weekly/2y)

I think, respect is something that you work on and earn. It shouldn’t have supposed to be about addressing someone politely because it is a must and you have to show them respect and there’s no way around it. (Marika, 20y, Chinese language student, daily/4y)

To me it seems exaggerated. Respecting parents is all right but too much is too much. (Martina, 23y, receptionist, weekly/1y)

People should treat each other with respect and it doesn’t matter if someone is older or younger. If someone wants my respect, they have to behave in certain way, otherwise they don’t deserve it. (Unni, 24y, dancer, sometimes/4y)

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There were few exceptions. One of my respondents tried to copy the respect for elders/parents value and paste it into her life. My respondent Gommie tried to directly and intentionally higher her respect level for her father.

I tried to use a formal language with my father (laugh) but he just looked at me whether I’am serious or not. So, I tell myself, perhaps I’m not. How did it look like? My dad asked me about my day at school. I said, ‘we had a test and how was your day, sir?’ Then he gave me very strange look so I’ve postponed the use of formal language.38 (Gommie, 18y, high school student, daily/5y)

Gommie is very specific in her interaction with the ‘dramaworld’. She is not only passive viewer; she is also fansubbing – translates subtitles from English to Czech language – for the website platform viki.com. The drama became her life, it consumes all her free time. As the figure 5 showed, she has seen the highest amount of dramas of all my respondents. Therefore, Gommie is somewhat special and extreme and so can be seen reflection of Korean drama values in her daily life. Her case could represent that the intensity of the drama watching can strengthen its’ values projection into daily reality. Her trying to use the polite language with her father can be caused by the very intensive consumption of Korean drama. Also other respondents reflected the Respect for Elders value. According to them they started to at least consider respecting their parents and teachers more after watching dramas.

Sometimes I say to myself, I should hold back and show my parents that I respect them more. (Marika, 20y, Chinese language student, daily/4y)

Generally, it [dramas] inspired me, how relationship with parents should look like. (Unni, 24y, dancer, sometimes/4y)

However as was presents earlier, their respect is conditioned: sometimes has to be earned and sometimes is simply too much to accept. Both reasons led me to consider the collision of national values of individualism (Hofstede, 2017) as possible explanation of their conflicting opinions and actions. To respect for elders is closely connected value Humbleness. It was by the respondents viewed mostly in positive connotations. At first I thought of it as

38 In the Czech the langue there is formal speech used with the people we don’t know and respect them. The phrase she said is difficult to translate to informal English. She literally said: ‚Říkám psali jsme písemku a jak jste se měl vy tatínku?‘

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strange, my respondents liking the humbleness but disliking respecting parents. I interpret it as connotative relating to ones’ imagination. While they think about respect for parents, they imagine the scenes in the drama when the parents despotically disapprove the ‘love’ of main protagonist, however when I asked them about the humbleness, they described the scenes of ‘higher principles’. The main protagonists are portrayed in the image of ‘nobility’ and ‘high manners’. The image of it seems so delightful and strong my respondents even started unintentionally copy it in their daily life.

I automatically bow my head when I say hello to someone. Sometimes it happens; I bowed a little when our teacher passed me my final school report at the end of the year. (Gommie, 18y, high school student, daily/5y)

You need to behave as your culture dictates you, but I’ve noticed that I bow my head a little when a car stops and lets me cross the street. Nothing significant but I do it. (Ivan, 20y, Korean language student, weekly/2y)

I have a tendency to bow sometimes, just like they bow to elders. But I am trying not to, because it’s not a custom here. (RonnieB, 20y, high school student, weekly/3y)

Really a lot [has tendency to bow her head]. It seemed humiliating to me at first but when you have it stacked in your head once... (Unni, 24y, dancer, sometimes/4y)

The quotations present how much my respondents projected what they saw in the dramas into their lives’ actions and in many cases it was an unintentional act. Even though they viewed the value mostly positively, they didn’t wish to do it, however they still bowed their heads. Maybe because the value is in collision with the Czech ‘customs’ or societal norms, my respondents preferred to rather comfortably merge with the crowd. It could be interpreted that they didn’t want to find themselves in cultural ‘conflicts’. Another value which is connected to the previously mentioned values is Family Orientedness. In Korean dramas is family often the central motive. The protagonists are very dependent on the family and everything is inferior to the family. My respondents similarly to the case of previous values mostly recognized it but didn’t consider it as only positive. Even though none of my respondents expressed their dislikes directly about the value, their liking had, again, its limits and conditions.

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It's very common that young take care about elders in Korea. It’s very strong Asian trait, I would say. I am used to it also from the Japanese dramas. Does it inspire you? I do not prefer the family-above-all attitude. You can’t choose your family, sometimes it's not ideal and I don’t fully support forced love based on family status. (Maruška, 23y, English language student, sometimes/1.5y)

I didn’t find any concrete case of this value projection into the lives of my respondents. As I noticed, the values my respondents recognized in the dramas, and didn’t necessarily like, such as extreme respect for parent, extreme working and studying conditions, were most likely not projected in their everyday life, because since they recognized them, they would also, in most cases, not reflect them in their lives if they didn’t like them.

7.1.2 ‘Comfortable’ before ‘Korean’

The values, they liked but would spoil their comfort were not reflected in their daily lives. Great example of that can be value Asian Work Ethic. It was by my respondents reflected partly positively and partly negatively. My respondents liked that in the drama were shown really hardworking characters which might have inspired them to work harder, however they didn’t wish to have the value projected in their ‘comfortable’ lives.

[…] such a hard work without any personal life, no way. I am too ‘Czech’ for this. Just easy peasy is enough, I am no try-hard. I wouldn't want to be some kind of a slave as they are in the dramas. (Jandi, 19y, high school student, daily/4y)

This is the only thing I don’t like. At first, I have wished to be born in Korea but then I see their late night studies, all day at school and after they return home, they study again. I don’t like it at all. I wouldn’t really have wanted to go to their high school. (Gommie, 18y, high school student, daily/5y)

I have an urge to work harder. There is plenty of examples of their hard work in order to achieve their goals. It taught me, if I want to reach my goals, I should start to work my ass off. (Ester, 20y, etiquette printer, daily/8y)

Nevertheless Ester comment to me seemed more like a statement of ‘good student’, which she was, rather than real-life reflection. Majority of respondents appreciated that the Czech culture doesn’t force them to work or study so hard.

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My respondents’ life seemed easier and more comfortable if situated in the Czech working/educational environment. I noticed my respondents were satisfied with their ‘easy peasy’ lives where they don’t have to ‘compete’ for success so much. They were satisfied with their life compared the Korean one, presented in dramas, considering the hard life of students and long working hours. My respondents also admitted in several cases that they are ‘lazy’ and that the hard work would ‘hindered’ their viewing time they spent on Korean drama which is ‘unwelcomed’. In this sense Czech environment ‘suited them’ more. The value of Collectivism was reflected in some cases negatively (as a societal normative limitation), some positively (eating habits or companies activities) which coincides the autonomous individuality of Czech audiences. In general, most of my respondents appreciated their own individual lifestyle and believed that life of person should not depend on the collective decisions and norms as was presented earlier.

Conclusion

The generic finding of this value dimension is that my respondents seem to fairly recognize the ‘designated’ values of this dimension and they view them not necessarily positively. The values they recognized and didn’t like, they didn’t intentionally reflect in their lives. There is an exception of the value Humbleness which they liked and didn’t want to reflect in their live, however did so unintentionally. The respondents seem to be in collision of the cultural values. The Czech audiences according to Hofstede (2017) live according the individualistic cultural values. In such a society are students learning how to learn and are expected to voice out their opinion. At work, hiring is based on skills and children have to be independent as soon as possible. The Korean collectivistic society is the opposite, students learn how to do, they are expected to listen and relatives are preferred in hiring (ibid). The Individualism dimension has the highest difference of all value dimensions comparing Czechia (58) and Korea (18) which could explain the obvious collision of ‘Confucianist’ values presented in the dramas and the previously determined values of my respondents, most probably by the Czech national values of individualism. The analyses shown my respondents mostly appreciate and admire the Korean humbleness and family centrality. Only few of my respondents were motivated to initiatively employ these values in their life. The respondents admired how Koreans in the dramas work hard to achieve their goals, however they were mostly satisfied with their comfortable life of the Czech individualistic ‘easy peasy’ society. 75

Overall the comfort and individualism prevented them from reflection of most of the ‘Confucianist’ values, especially those they didn’t like, into their daily lives.

7.2 ‘Typical’ Korean

7.2.1 Experiencing the ‘Authentic Korea’: Tasting Korea

The value dimension ‘Typical’ Korean consists of ‘designated’ values Gastronomy and Language. It was positively accepted value dimension. 46% of the Czech Hallyu fans like Korean food (Mazaná, 2014, p. 61). Also my respondents appreciated the Korean gastronomy or eating habits. All of my respondents wanted to or did try ‘typical’ Korean food. Not all of them liked it, though, for few it was ‘too spicy’; on the other hand some respondents overcame the dislike of ‘spiciness’ and come to like it.

[…] we went to Prague with the Korean class, it was a group of 5 people, and Korean cuisine was the only reason for that trip. We had some noodles, don’t know which one. I didn’t feel very adventurous, so I ordered some with chicken meat. My friend had a jajangmyeon, which I tried, it was delicious. Also, I sometimes cook ramyeon, if I have one. I’ve tried bibimbab or some crazily spicy kimchi soup. Not a fan of spicy food? I am. I weren’t before, but because of Korean culture, full of spicy ramyeons or spicy kimchi, I’ve gotten used to it. (Maruška, 23y, English language student, sometimes/1.5y)

I interpret Maruška’s switch from not liking spicy to liking spicy as the need to feel authentic Korea defeating her previous dislikes. She modified her taste, made herself like it so that she can be part of the viewed culture through the food, at least. The study of Lee, Ham and Kim (2014) revealed that Korean drama has significant impact on the desire to visit Korean restaurants and try their food. Many Malaysians started to visit Korean restaurants to taste kimchi or bulgogi (Cho, 2010). As I mentioned the dramas present the Korean gastronomy very deliciously. I asked my respondents what they think about the Korean food in the dramas, specifically about the scenes with protagonists eating food.

I know in advance that I’ll want to eat it, so I’m ready. Before I start to watch I have already prepared ramyeon or jajangmyeon in front of me. I am little upset that we don’t have any jajangmyeon delivery or I didn’t come across any yet. It’s a pity because I haven’t eaten non-instant jajangmyeon yet. (Jandi, 19y, high school student, daily/4y)

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Many my respondents told me they have to eat as they watch Korean drama because the food there looks so good and the protagonists eat it with such a strong appetite that it ‘has to be ‘great’. My respondents also in some cases shop online or if they have access (mostly those living in Prague) they visit Korean markets. One of my respondents makes her own kimchi and the absolute majority is using chopsticks while eating the Asian food. The food itself should be shared. My respondents didn’t want to eat Korean food alone, and majority went to try out one or two Korean restaurants in Prague with their friends. However, the food itself is not enough for my respondents. It seems the Korean drama projected the image of consumption of tasty food into the minds of my respondents, who now want to experience the Korea or rather the Korea from Korean drama through the authentic Korean food-eating experience. The Korean food has to come with a feel of Korean authenticity, Korean culture. The way my respondents distinguish between the Czech food eaten by fork and knife, and Ramyon eaten by chopsticks support the theory of my respondents wanting to experience the Korean authenticity through the Korean authentic gastronomy, otherwise they would have eaten their Ramyon/noodle by fork and not with chopsticks. They also adopted the Korean manners presented in dramas.

I slurp noodles while eating my ramyeon. But I don’t do it with spaghetti; I just do it automatically when the food is Korean and everyone around just stares at me. Do they, really? Yes, but it’s the Korean way, so look elsewhere! (Gommie, 18y, high school student, daily/5y)

Ethnic Vietnamese didn’t like the Korean food that much. This could be interpreted in the optics of Vietnamese nationalism and strong food tradition within the culture. Also for them experiencing the Korean food might not be very ‘special’ considering the Asian origins of both cuisines. Ethnic Czech audiences wanted to experience the Korean culture through the gastronomy. Ethnic Vietnamese audience preferred the Vietnamese food before the Korean. The ethnic Czech audience mostly liked the Korean cuisine before Vietnamese, which also supports the theory that it is not the matter of liking the food; it is about tasting the culture.

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7.2.2 Experiencing the ‘Authentic Korea’: Talking Korea

I found the value of Language is important to my respondents. According Mazaná (2014) 54% supporters of Hallyu liked Korean language. The value was in majority cases projected in their life initiatively. Absolute majority wanted to or already did study the Korean language. Many bought the textbooks and self-studied or taken lessons, Ivan even studied Korean language as his major at the university and the respondents – high school students in many cases planed to take entrance exams for Faculty of Korean Studies mostly in Olomouc or in Prague. When I asked my respondents what they liked about the Korean drama, very often they answered ‘the language’. This finding is consistent with the research of Shin (2009) who found that Australian students study Korean language mainly to understand Korean TV dramas and films. At first I thought that it is only the case of those respondents who are also the students of foreign language, such as Chinese or English, however later I’ve realized the value of Language reaches deeper into the daily life of my respondents than I’ve expected. I then asked my respondents if they used the Korean language/phrases in their daily life. Gommie uses Korean expressive words, such as aish39, aigo40, eommaya41. She admits she started to use those naturally, without noticing. She realized she uses Korean words only when the friends asked her what she is saying. Similarly, some other my respondents used the language unintentionally within the daily situations.

When people watch dramas they definitely catch some vocabulary, which can be inconvenient sometimes. When I was about to buy bus ticket, I dropped my coins and instead of saying something like ohh, I said aish! People around didn’t understand and stared at me. (Aera, 20y, e-shop saleswoman, daily/4y)

I don’t think Aera or even Gommie really minded expressing their emotions through the Korean phrases. I think they might minded finding out they use them suggesting it is out of their control. However I suspect they like using Korean phrases in daily life since they then feel more like ‘real’ Korean. The feeling of authenticity increases every time they use the

39 Darn it

40 Oops, Whew

41 Oh My God

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Korean phrase, even though unintentionally. They also use the phrases intentionally. For example when we, Aera and I, finished the interview and left the Café I noticed two girls waiting outside who seemed obviously angry since they had to wait two hours for her. As they were leaving angrily, Aera run to them shouting bianeee!42. She apologised to them in Korean. Since the girls before they left told me about the new Korean bistro in Brno I understood they were also the Hallyu fans. It might thus be the case, that Aera felt comfortable with them and could use the Korean phrases intentionally and therefore intensify the authentic Korean feel. In the case of using the Korean phrase unintentionally for example in the bus she felt the conflict of both cultures and their values, referring to previous chapter.

Conclusion

The values obviously affected the respondent’s actions but also life paths. This finding reveals the need of my respondents to experience the Korean culture they see in the dramas in their real lives. They do so, among other, through the Korean language and Korean gastronomy. Many of my respondents visited Korean restaurants in Prague or in Brno. They don’t go alone, but in couple or group, as is typical for Koreans. My respondents partly employ the Korean eating habits they observe in Korean dramas, such as loud slurping or eating by chopsticks. In some cases, the Korean dramas seem to be the reason for the modification of the previously defined taste, as for example Gommie started to ‘like’ the spicy food after the dramas. My respondents also studied Korean language. They usually self studied but few were taking the lessons and one studied Korean as a major. They also seemed to project the value in their lives by use of the Korean phrases they observed in the dramas. I see the connection with the case of Americanization (Schiller, 1971), since the language is the obvious result of it. Even the academy adopted this ‘universal’ language. The ‘Koreanization’ might be the cause for the growing popularity of Korean language and also the numbers of students applying for the Korean language studies (Mazaná, 2014).

42 I am sorry

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7.3 Universality

7.3.1 Spoiling the Audiences

This value dimension consists of Less Provocation, Easiness and Choice of Genres values. All values present the diverse ‘menu’ to my respondents which other countries’ soaps or TV series don’t. My respondents appreciated they could have watched their favourite actors in various genres. If they didn’t like the Rom-com, they just looked for their idol in other genres, since he most probably appeared also in Medical genre, in Action genre, etc. Also, if they liked the specific genre, they could have followed it regardless the actors, since the universality of the Korean drama assures the actors and scenes will be still ‘viewable’. In the following table I present how much the tastes of my respondents varied.

Figure 6 Respondents’ preferences of Korean drama genres

It would be hard to satisfy all my respondents with only one or two genres. The drama world offers variety of genres, which are all easy to get to and watch. Usually my respondents utilized few websites where they could choose from the categorically sorted dramas by genres and watched the dramas for free quite easily. Since the dramas employ universal values, such as Less Provocation and circulate the same actors, the respondents once used to it can get easily their daily/weekly/monthly dose of ontologically secure escape from reality. 80

The value Choice of genres is reflected positively. All my respondents told me how they liked a specific genre when they feel in a specific way. None of them preferred only genre, as the table confirms. My respondents have different tastes in dramas.

There is one genre I like the most and usually look for it. Which is it? Mostly Detective or Crime, but I have a feeling, that there are not enough of them. Even though lately I think it’s getting better. I also like those from the Legal world, few from the Medical world and sometimes even fantasy or sci-fi. (Marika, 20y, Chinese language student, daily/4y)

It is also interesting that for example Goblin’s bride, who told me she liked the Historical genre the most, according to table doesn’t. The data shows she likes other genres even more. I suspect, that the genres my respondents claim to prefer, might differ from what they really choose which could be caused by the colourful content of the dramas. One drama can employ the historical scenes, the modernity, also the special effects, action, etc. My respondents then think they prefer historical genre, but the historical realms are present also in dramas which might not be classified as Historical.

Koreans offer many to choose from, because they have romance even sci-fi in one drama, so everything you like. […] School and Medical I do not enjoy at all. (Tereza, 28y, waitress/receptionist, sometimes/4y)

Value Less provocation is reflected very positively by my respondents. Through the interviews there hasn’t been anyone who would dislike the value. In contrary and to my surprise the value was highly praised. Both cultures are according the Hofstede (2017) resistant societies for which are typical control of the gratification of their desires. They reached the same low score (29) of indulgence, e.g. compared to the United States (69).

What I liked the most, unlike in the American TV series, was the innocence and purity which was completely different from what I was used to. Also, there aren’t any vulgar or violent scenes which are very common in American TV series. It was new and I liked it. (Tereza, 28y, waitress/receptionist, sometimes/4y)

It doesn’t bother me at all. Drama doesn’t have to be good just because there is someone naked, who sleeps with someone else. That doesn’t make a drama good. Good drama attracts with its story and it doesn’t have to always end up with sex. (RonnieB, 20y, high school student, weekly/3y)

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My respondents similarly positively recognized the value Easiness. The value, similarly as previous, was not reflected in their daily life, except of the motivation for further consumption of Korean drama or other Korean cultural products. I’ve noticed that value Easiness was recognized mostly in comparisons with the other countries’ series.

I was interested in them [Chinese dramas] as well, but not as much as in Korean dramas because they are strange. As a European I wasn’t used to them and yet Korean drama interested me more. It was more dynamic, I was able to ‘live’ the plot intensively and to understand the story. In China, it’s more about reading between the lines and overall context, which, if you don’t know, makes it complicated. (Marika, 20y, Chinese language student, daily/4y)

Conclusion

I haven’t found any obvious consequence of the value dimension Universality when it comes to the daily life of my respondents. It however seems to spoil the audiences, so that the other countries’ series might seem unsatisfying. It is the way of creating ‘loyal customer’. The dimension makes the drama easier to watch. The values ensure further consumption of Korean cultural products and therefore can ‘get’ the viewer more deeply involved with Korean cultural values. The universality helps to ontologically secure the audiences. The scenes, the language and faces start to be familiar making the ‘dramaworld’ nice and familiar place to escape to from tiring day at school or work. The Universality dimensions reinforce the familiarity of the firstly unknown Korean drama and also with help of some ‘American’ imported (mostly consumerist) values make the Korean drama comfortable to watch. My respondents referred to drama as ‘different’ from the American TV series. They appreciated the uniqueness and purity of the Korean drama which is hard to find. The Czech studied audiences’ reflection of the Less Provocation value is surprisingly consistent with Chinese audiences’ reflection. Lin and Tong’s (2008) respondents preferred ‘physical love’ being suppressed. The value dimension Universality is directly connected to the value dimension Exotic Fairy Tale.

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7.4 Exotic Fairy Tale

7.4.1 Ontologically Secured Escape from Reality to ‘Familiarly Special’

The value dimension Exotic Fairy Tale consists of the ‘designated’ values Narrative Appeal, Escapism and Special Experience. Previous findings reviled the feeling of ontological security being reinforced by further consumption which is partly caused by the value dimension Universality. I shall also discuss the relevance of ontologically secured audience and the consumption of Korean drama. Giddens (1990) sees ontological security as individuals’ inner need for order and continuity. The need for security is dependent on the individuals’ perception of meaning of life, which is defined by the feeling of positive emotions. The data showed that my respondents mostly reflected the value of Special Experience in positive connotations and felt comfortable in the world of exotic flavors. This might seem ironic, since the fear of unknown might exclude the feeling of safety. However, the ‘special’ somehow through the consumption became ‘familiarly special’.

I like the typical clichés like backhug, piggyback and more. Do you expect it in dramas? Yes, I always guess what will happen, if this or that. I am an expert on it. It’s predictable but there is something new every time. (Gommie, 18y, high school student, daily/5y)

Gommie became expert on the dramaworld and thus she feels safe in it, because she knows what to expect and what will come next. The foreign world of Korean cultural values was received exceptionally positively by my respondents. The repetition of media contents has a confirmatory effect (Burton, Jirák, 2001, p. 156). The long-term consumption of the Korean drama values made it ‘common’ and ‘safe’. Thus, my respondents always knew when they were tired of studying, that afterwards they can escape to this exotic and safe world. This is where I introduce the ‘designated’ value Escapism. Radway (1984) describes how her respondents found an escape from patriarchal reality of their daily life in the reading romance. Similarly my respondents needed to ‘take a break’ from their ‘usual’ life responsibilities. For example the students, who have to study often or Jana, who has quite hard job as a doctor, welcome the escape from reality.

You describe it as stupidity, so what appealed to you?

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It was completely different from American series and I liked the setting. It’s simple, surely it is, but I am quite overwhelmed at work and I need a little bit of brainwashing, something simple. Because of this, I started to watch it. I started to be interested in their unique traits like food or language and then in translations. (Jana, 48y, neurologist, weekly/4y)

To Jana Korean drama world offers not just an escape from reality, but also escape into the different, special, exotic world, which seems new and therefore ‘educational’. She can self-justify the time she spends on the ‘easy’ content as not a complete loss of time. Jana and also other respondents through the drama escaped the hard everyday life which motivated the further consumption. They found a new ‘home’ to go back to. A value in this category is Narrative Appeal. It was reflected by the majority of the audience positively. Maruška and Jana were an exception and referred to it as ‘not exactly groundbreaking’ when it comes to narrative quality. Even though, they still liked it. Some respondents highlighted the narrative and described it as ‘fairy tale’, which they appreciated.

It appealed like fairy tale to me because, if you watch classics, the most favourite dramas, the good always defeat the evil and there is love and happy end. It’s such a brain wash that everything is fine and you always get your prince or princess. It’s an escape from reality. (Sanghee, 22y, management student/manager, weekly/8y)

If you watch it long enough it significantly projects into your life. You start imagining how you find someone. You expect that his love for you comes in ‘drama’ way. Sudden fateful encounter... Yes, exactly. This reflects to personal life and creates misconceptions. What kind of misconception? I would love to experience piggyback, I think it’s the dream of every girl. For example, if she has a foot blister, he will carry her on his back. I imagine every guy like from drama; that he will fight for you but it’s not like that in real life, not today. That the boy will fight for you? In the ordinary life, when a girl refuses a boy, he quickly moves forward and finds himself some other girl. While in drama, he loves her even after 20 years the same. (Aera, 20y, e-shop saleswoman, daily/4y)

I demonstrate here how this value penetrated the life of Aera, specifically her imagination of ideal man and perception of how she wishes to be treated. Even though most of my respondents still apply critical thinking and realize they are influenced by the drama,

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they still wish for the ‘happy end’. The media contents for quite some time present the ‘universally’ ideal male heroes in the ‘typical’ women contents (Luhmann, 1982). I found another consequence of Narrative Appeal partly mixed with the Modernity, Beautiful People and Landscape values. Self-studying can also result by consuming foreign TV dramas (Xu, 2007). Some of my respondents started to be more interested in the history and facts about the Korea as they watched historical dramas.

You can get partly an image of how does it look like there. When I watched historical dramas, I enjoyed googling facts about names etc, to see if it is similar to reality or just a fiction. (Jandi, 19y, high school student, daily/4y)

7.4.2 Declaration of ‘Peculiarity’

Half way through of my interviews I went to the AsianStar Olmouc Party to observe some of my participants (some of them co-organized it and some visited) and the Hallyu community in general. This party was organized by the students of Palacký University and on the program was also the welcoming ceremony for Korean studies freshmen. Out of my respondents five were present at the party; two were organizing it, one even performed. The evening was full of energy and connection. It was like entering the secret world only known to us. The difference was quite obvious. The music was Korean, the fashion, make-up and styling of some attendances was ‘Asian’, some died their hair to pink, or blue, or peroxide blond or red or orange following the K-pop trends. The performers were massively supported by the audiences, cheering, screaming. The attendances obviously enjoyed how ‘different’, ‘special’ they were. The whole event seemed as an opportunity to boost one’s self-confidence and manifest of peculiarity. I’ve realized that similarly as Radway (1984) found that to her female respondents was the reading romance ‘declaration of independence’, I could refer to my respondents’ watching Korean drama as ‘declaration of peculiarity’. My respondents seem to like they are not following the ‘mainstream’. They are glad about the ‘new’ and ‘special’ world they discovered in the dramas (and K-pop).

Iris was the rabbit hole I fell into just like Alice and couldn’t come back. I need more and more dramas and actors. That is the magic in it, a few years back I didn’t know this world and now I can’t imagine living without it. (Goblin’s bride, 35y, redactor, daily/10y)

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Would you want all the people to know Korean drama and culture?

Rather not. I don’t even tell people what I watch. It’s like very precious to me and I don’t want to show it to anyone. It’s my precious treasure which I want to protect. (Baby, 18y, high school student, weekly/6y)

I enjoy it and I can distinguish myself from some stereotypes. For example, everybody watches the Walking Dead, 99% of my friends watch it. I would hate myself if I’d fell to such stereotype, that I would be so eager to new Walking Dead episode. (Jandi, 19y, high school student, daily/4y)

My respondents liked that the ‘special’ exotic flavour of Korean drama in the discourse of Czech society, made also them ‘special’. It also influenced some of them in their daily life. Some of my respondents noticed that the drama changed them. Changed who they wanted to be and how they behaved.

I have a feeling my personality has changed. I used to be quiet, introverted and now I am talkative; I am optimistic, personality twist. What caused it? The happy end, I would say, and overall positive attitude, it makes me happier. Some character struggles with something and then he gets back on track. I never experienced such a hardship, so why would I worry? I’ll be different and will act as I want, not as I should. Do you act as you want? Yes, sometimes it’s a problem, particularly in school, but they’ve gotten used to it. I try some Korean jokes when I see someone in a bad mood, they usually don’t get it though, but they laugh because I look comical. I can spread the positive energy. What kind of jokes? For example (does ‘wing wing’ gesture) they don’t understand what it means and when I explain to them it is Aegyo, after a while they are all like laughing. (Gommie, 18y, high school student, daily/5y)

Conclusion

My respondents truly appreciated this value dimension. To me, it seems that the respondents enjoy being ‘different’, they like to be seen as ‘abnormal’ and in some cases desire to define against stereotypes. On the other hand they want to share this ‘treasure’ with at least someone. We all know the feeling, when sometimes we want to share with the people close to us something ‘special’ that we’ve found were given or gained and are delighted about it. My respondents want to share the special experience, want to show of this amazing new

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world they discovered to their friends and family. Goblin’s bride reviled to me her plans for shared travelling. She told me, she wanted to travel to Korea with someone to share the experience so badly, that she now saves for two people and plans to offer ‘free’ ticket to Korea if they go with her. On the other hand some respondents don’t want everyone to know about Korean drama, since the ‘special’ or to them ‘familiarly special’ would lose its spark. From ‘special’ would be ‘stereotypical’ societal norm of Czech Republic.

7.5 Aesthetics

7.5.1 Dream Comes True: Living Korea

Previous studies of Asian audiences (Hanaki, Singhal et al., 2007) found that beauty is one of the most dominant reason why people watch Korean drama and develop new aesthetic tastes and thus also the taste in physical beauty, tastes for consumption of cosmetics, fashion, procedures and tastes for travelling and ‘experiencing’ the beautiful landscapes. The value dimension Aesthetics consists of Beautiful Landscapes and Beautiful People. The ‘designated’ value Beautiful Landscapes was reflected by all my respondents positively. Consequently to their liking, they wanted to travel to Korea. In opposition to the previously conducted researches with Japanese viewers (Chua and Iwabuchi, 2008) as I present in the literature review, my respondents wanted to in most cases live in Korea for a longer period of time, not just ‘check’ the scenes where were the dramas shot, as Japanese audiences did. The curiosity about the Korean dramas’ representation of ‘reality’ and thus the need to see the Korean culture in their own eyes might be even stronger when it comes to the Czech audiences compared to Japanese audiences, which shares some ‘Asian’ cultural similarities. Thus the Czech audiences might want to experience this ‘new’ culture deeper and not just briefly ‘visit it’ as tourists.

So, you travelled to Korea because of Korean drama? Yes, and I completely forced my family to do it. Would you want to visit Korea again? Absolutely. For how long? To see everything I will need two years at least (laugh) (Jandi, 19y, high school student, daily/4y) 87

Jandi has already visited Korea with her family, it was her wish. However she only visited it as a tourist and that was not enough. Also Baby visited Korea; she told me that her sister went to study to Korea, partly because of her, so that she (Baby) can come visit her there. Ivan as a student of Korean studies plans to leave for Korea in the next semester. Maruška and Unni both intensively plan to move to Korea for longer period of time. Maruška has plans as English tutor and Unni wants to find her luck as dancer in Korea. G-Dragon can imagine to one day study in Korea and also work there. Dramas have the special ability to make the viewers want to experience what they see on the screens. Specifically they make one feel in need to live what they see. The K-pop doesn’t seem to have this exact effect. The K-pop consumption makes fans want to feel the success, the performing brings out the endorphins, however the drama shows this appealing and interesting world which one wants to be part of at least for a while. It is far enough culturally and physically that it is seemingly unattainable, thus the spark is maintained. On the other hand, Korean drama consumption makes it also close enough to long for it.

After I started watching dramas I ultimately knew that I have to go there because it’s just so awesome. (Jandi, 19y, high school student, daily/4y)

I could put myself to use in some Korean company because of my technical knowledge. In the Czech Republic or Korea? In Korea, there are LG and Samsung. So, you want to go to Korea? Yes, for many reasons, there is much to explore (G-Dragon, 18y, high school student, weekly/2.5y)

I have already planned it a little bit…I want to finish my studies and then I want to travel. Work and travel. I want to go to Korea after my studies at university, spend some time there, find a job, and explore culture and food. (Sanghee, 22y, management student/manager, weekly/8y)

My respondents also very often liked the aesthetics of interior design, the modern technology presented in the dramas; however these values will be discussed later in the Chapter Modernity. The consequence of the consumption of the value Beautiful Landscape is reflected in the respondents’ travelling destination appetite and initiation of the long-term stay in Korea. Respondent’s goal is not to see the Korea but to live the Korea.

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7.5.2 Asian is ‘Sexy’: Shift in Perception of Beauty

Consequence of ‘designated’ value Beautiful People is the obvious shift of the perception of beauty. The studied audience mostly considered the Koreans beautiful and usually named the protagonist’s beauty as one of the reason they started and have kept watching Korean drama. For the claim, that my respondent’s perception of beauty changed, I don’t have enough data; however the interviews showed at least a little shift in their shopping behaviour or use of cosmetics, or beauty standards. The media in the context of consumer culture can set standards, norms of aesthetics values in societies (Featherstone, 2010). Through the media consumption, the consumers lose the ability to recognize the reality from glorified fiction and consequently reach for the offered products which can reinforce the beauty standards (Heinberg, Thompson and Stormer, 1995). The ‘designated’ value of Beautiful People is interconnected with the values of Globalized Consumer Lifestyle and also Female and Male Attractiveness. My respondents liked the clothes the protagonists wore; they also praised the physical beauty of the actors. Even thought they at first might not have consider Asians beautiful, their perception might shifted the more they’ve soaked in the dramaworld’s values of beauty.

It surprised me quite a bit. I am not exactly a teenager so they all seemed to me like feminized, androgynous dudes. Now, I don’t see them same as I used to and I have a feeling they are becoming manlier. I was surprised that Koreans are tall and quite masculine. Also, I was stunned how beautiful they are. I thought that Asians can’t be interesting or attractive to be completely honest. I was wrong. Sure, I know they are carefully selected because when you compare actors and staff there is big contrast between those two groups. But yes, I do like them, I have favourites. (Jana, 48y, neurologist, weekly/4y)

Jana described the Korean men as androgynous and she meant it negatively. Radway (1984) explains that the romances usually employ androgynous main protagonist that is not a ‘real’ gender but a myth, mix of both dominant characters of men and women specifically designed to confirm the unsatisfactory position of women in their roles of patriarchal society where is determining organization of genders welcomed, simply so that the world makes sense. These idealized constructed androgynous types don’t exist. In Korean drama are the males presented even more feminized. However as I will discuss later, the ‘Korean ideal’ might be much closer to the reality than Radway suggests, as the Korean society employs

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feminine cultural values (Hofstede, 2017). Korean ideal man is represented by soft male characters, he is a combination of Japanese kawaii masculinity, momjjang and American-pop- idol (Jung, 2011). Jana was surprised how she liked the Asian male protagonists, because she didn’t consider the ‘Asians’ as attractive before and in the beginning as she started to watch Korean dramas. Singhal and Min-Wha Kim (2009) explain how the Korean residents in Japan turned from ‘invisibility’ to ‘visibility’, therefore were accepted and recognized by Japanese after the popularization of Korean ideal men through the media export. Jana now reflects the beauty of the protagonist positively. This finding suggests the Korean masculinity might be ‘invisible’ in the Czech. Jana’s words suggest the shift from not know – not like to getting to know – like. Others also noticed the shift caused by the Korean aesthetics values.

Asians became more attractive to me because of these dramas, that’s for sure. If I wouldn’t watch it, I would remain within Americans and white, attractive men. I wouldn’t even think that Asians can be attractive. (Tereza, 28y, waitress/receptionist, sometimes/4y)

I started to like Koreans, which is also problem of many other people who watch dramas. They are beautiful and I got used to it. I have no desire to watch any American series anymore. (Martina, 23y, receptionist, weekly/1y) Jana, Tereza and Martina obviously didn’t consider Asians attractive at first. The drama consumption seems to change their perception of beauty. Once they discovered Korean attractiveness, they disregarded the cultural norms of the Czech ideal man. My respondents also appreciated the clothes, skin and make up and often adjusted their look accordingly.

Their skin has to be absolutely flawless. Little imperfection is just wrong. It is something so perfect and amazing; it might not be from this world. It’s like looking at the holly picture. (Jana, 48y, neurologist, weekly/4y)

Would you like to get a tan? Not at all. I just ordered a lightening skin cream. I used to like sunbathing but now I don’t and I even wear a 5043 make-up. I look up to Koreans in this. (Aera, 20y, e-shop saleswoman, daily/4y)

43 She refers to SPF – the Sun Protection Factor which is usually contained in the BB creams, so that he skin doesn’t tan. The white skin is the ideal of beauty in Korea.

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The most important to Koreans when it comes to beauty is the face and skin. Also my respondents mostly noticed it and started to take care of their skin more. Ester for example told me, she started to lessen on her make-up, since the Koreans didn’t use much obvious make-up style. Several my respondents also order the Korean cosmetics from the online shops or visit Missha44 in Prague. In few cases they intentionally lightened their skin to meet the ‘Asian’ beauty standard demanding the lighter skin over darker one because of having a light skin is associated with success, intelligent and beauty (Zhang, 2014). However my respondents usually complained of not having enough money to shop freely as much as they wanted to, thus the consequences of this shift do not seem as strong and obvious as I expected them to be. This might be caused by the young age of my respondents who don’t work yet or start their careers and thus don’t have enough resources. My respondents also usually liked the fashion styles presented in dramas and sometimes went shopping with that image imprinted in their minds, looking for the similar pieces in the Czech shops.

When I go shopping I often think like: Oh, this peace is similar to this drama and that is similar to that drama and I tell myself I should buy it. I saw a hat in Gate, it looked exactly like the hat from Goblin. So I was like, I will buy it! It doesn’t suit me at all but I want it. Do you have any Korean clothes at home? My sister bought me a dress. However I will wear them only to a really very special occasion until then, it remains in the closet. It’s my treasure. (Gommie, 18y, high school student, daily/5y)

Conclusion

The value dimension of Aesthetics basically leads the viewers of Korean drama towards ‘designated’ value Globalized Consumer Lifestyle. The audiences first get to visually like some attributes of Korean drama and then try to find it on the Czech market, which is not always easy. My respondents started to look for Korean beauty products in their everyday life. They went shopping with an image, partly shaped by Korean drama aesthetic values of what to like. The respondents also seem to go through a shift of perception of beauty. The beauty standards for the male and female ideal shifted as they watched dramas. Korean dramas made

44 The only Korean shop with the Korean cosmetics situated in Prague.

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the Korean masculinity, similarly as in the case of Japanese audiences (Singhal and Kim, 2009), turn from ‘invisibility’ to ‘visibility’, in the optics of my respondents. It reviled them Korean feminine ‘soft’ masculinity, which they started to like. My respondents also cared about their skin, lessened on makeup, preferred lighter skin and shopped online for Korean cosmetics. It seems interesting to me that the ‘white’ public start to appreciate their white skin more, when affected by the Korean (Asian) ideal represented in dramas.

7.6 Modernity

7.6.1 Meeting the Good Old ‘Western’ Friend

Value dimension Modernity consists of ‘designated’ values Westernized Work Ethic, Globalized Consumer Lifestyle, Modern Technology, Social Justice and Concept of True Love. This value dimension was reflected exceptionally well. I have already partly discussed the consequences of the Globalized Consumer Lifestyle in the previous chapter. My respondents mostly appreciated aesthetics, and aesthetics to them often equalled modern. The audiences except of the beautiful protagonists and scenery also appreciated the modern interiors and technology in the dramas. The scenes are full of knew smart phones, smart cars, smart fridges, or smart watches. However, when it comes to Korean technology products, my respondents didn’t seem to reflect the value by its consumption in their daily life. There were only few exceptions of those who owned the Samsung or LG phones however they claimed it was rather a coincidence. Two of my respondents made their parents buy Hyundai and Kia car. However, the reason behind the low consumption of Korean technology products was limited resources. Thus they liked the modern technology of Korean drama but it wasn’t significantly reflected in their lives. My respondents rather use affordable, economical Chinese smart phones. The value Westernized Work Ethic stands in opposition to Asian Work Ethic. In contrary to Asian style of working, my respondents appreciated the westernization of the drama specifically in the sense of the emancipation of the main female protagonist. This westernized image of women presented them as ‘strong’. Even though some archetypes, for example beauty standards which should the heroine meet, still remained.

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I am getting tired of it. Why can’t there be a normal heroine. They usually make her weak, and even if she is for example like a doctor, she will have to wear high heels and perfect makeup. It’s not real. (Tereza, 28y, waitress/receptionist, sometimes/4y)

Mostly, I find myself a drama without frightened girls. You don’t like them? Not completely, I don’t know how I am doing it but I come across with initiative women, with feminists, well not feminists but women who won’t put up with something too easily. Can you identify somehow with such a character? Yes, because she is very much like me. I am not fearful kind of person who is intimidated by someone confronting him and I never listened to the word… (Joone, 17y, high school student, weekly/5y)

Korean dramas often employ ‘good old western’ values which are highly appreciated by my respondents. They are tired of week heroines. These emancipated values are consistent with my respondent cultural values and come from what Hofstede (2017) defines by the value dimension of Individualism. My respondents appreciated the main female protagonist being ‘strong’, having her own carrier and resources and not being imprisoned by the cultural norms. I didn’t find any direct consequences of this value on the life of my respondents. This value is ‘only’ an important ingredient of Korean drama without which it might not be received as positively by the Czech, quite individualistic audiences. Similarly, the value Concept of true love was accepted positively and is something that can ‘only’ reinforce the Czech audience’s further interest in Korean dramas. The ‘true romantic love’ as we know it today is quite new concept of modern societies (Luhmann, 1982). Until recently, and in the Asian societies even more recently, the love was inferior and the couple entered into marriage of convenience, not love. The societies which only recently discovered this new concept of love might seem hungry for it (ibid). Thus the presentation of the ‘true love’ in the Korean drama is quite intense and extreme. It is however received positively by my audiences. The concept is familiar to them and is refreshing compared the new post-materialist conventional concept of love presented by the American production. Another appreciated value among my respondents is Social Justice. I was, maybe naively, surprised how many of my respondents had been bullied usually by classmates at primary school or even by family members. I can confidently state that my respondents had greatly developed sense for social justice.

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Well, as I was bullied at elementary school, I have strong compassion with the bullied person. Perhaps, it’s the reason why you like it? Well, in Boys over flowers, for example, Jan-Di was bullied and she didn’t give up. Would you help your friend? Yes, people can gossip me as they want but one wrong word about my friend and I am on killing spree! Literally one bad look is enough and I defend my friend like hell. (AN, 23y, librarian, sometimes/5y)

The Korean drama seemed to boost their self-confidence. They were inspired by the heroines who also delft with the difficult satiation, usually of being grossly discriminated. My respondents found a support and example in the dramas.

I basically raised myself, with things I enjoyed and liked and it was Korean drama and K-pop. (Joone, 17y, high school student, weekly/5y)

Conclusion The value dimension of Modernity was reflected very positively. My respondents especially appreciated the social justice value. Since many of my respondents experienced the bullying, they could relate with the discriminate heroines. They were inspired by the strength of the heroines since they ‘never give up’ thus also stood up for themselves and overcame all difficulties. The findings showed my respondents liked the ‘western’ values, the individuality, and assertiveness of strong heroines they could identify with. On the other hand they were tired of the submissive archetypes of main heroines. My respondents appreciated the modernity of the interior design, technology, clothes and looks.

7.7 Emotions

7.7.1 Even the Prince Cries: Reminder of Emotional-self

This value dimension consists of Pure Love, Korean ‘han’ and Soundtrack. Emotions are proven to be the appreciated ingredient of the dramas (see Hanaki, Singhal et al., 2007). The Pure Love doesn’t differ from the Concept of True Love much. In the value dimension Emotions the love bares slightly different connotation. It is about expressing the feeling of true love. In Korean drama it is portrayed in discourse of longing, sacrifice and sadness. The

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Pure Love contains a bit of Korean ‘han’ and also the ‘Typical’ Korean values. It is not understood in the context of emancipator ‘Western’ values. My respondents appreciated the strongly expressed emotions in dramas.

I like that the love is on the first place in dramas and any physical contact comes later. (Unni, 24y, dancer, sometimes/4y)

I was surprised to find out my male respondents liked the dramas specifically because of the intensively portrayed emotions which were according to them hard to find in other TV series for example of American production.

I liked about it that it focuses on interpersonal relationships, romance, friendship and it’s not like Western cinematography where they focus more to get as much plot in it as they can and don’t focus enough on momentary feelings. When was the last time you cried? Last time I cried…just recently. A month ago, I watched Bride of the Water god, it wasn’t very good drama, but there were strong emotions in it and when I put myself into it, there was the crying moment. (Milan, 17y, high school student, sometimes/3y)

Did you cry, while watching these scenes? Yes, when I watched these, I think did Do you think you could cry publicly? I can imagine somebody crying on a bus or tram; I haven’t seen it yet but I’ve heard about it. (G-Dragon, 18y, high school student, weekly/2.5y)

Korean drama can as soap opera reinforce the viewers’ identification with the storyline through what Ang (1985) refers to as ‘emotional realism’ (p. 61). Ang considers emotions as one of the key attribute of soap operas’ attractiveness. This theory can be also applied to my respondents. As the table shows, they mostly reflect the emotions as positive value. Women (in Ang’s study) identify not with the fictive story that is usually hard to believe to (people coming back to life, amnesias, accidents…), but with the emotions they feel while watching them. Milan described drama Bride of the Water God as ‘not so good’, however appreciated the emotions in the drama that even made him cry. According to Ang the emotions the viewers feel are real and well known from their everyday life experience; therefore they feel connected to the storyline or to the protagonists, even though the plot itself or the quality in general is not good. Milan inside dramaworld discovered the safe place where he can identify with the familiar however in the masculine society (Hofstede, 2017) also publically

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suppressed emotions. For Milan can emotional realism of Korean drama in the causality of Czech masculine society hold the similar importance as for the Ang’s respondents through watching emotional contents escaped the patriarchal society. ‘Designated’ value Korean ‘han’ was reflected very poorly by my respondents. They mostly didn’t reflect the value or if so, they considered it as negative or neutral. It seems that the long intensive sorrow and victimization were not appealing or visible to my audience. ‘Designated’ value Soundtrack was reflected by the majority of my respondents positively. Some of them regularly listen to their favorite pieces.

I think important part is soundtrack, camera work and acting performances. Mostly soundtrack and acting performances are really good at K-dramas and they put a lot of effort to it. (Milan, 17y, high school student, sometimes/3y) I listen to soundtracks a lot. Like really a lot. I play my playlist before sleep. Pinocchio soundtrack is really great. (Aera, 20y, e-shop saleswoman, daily/4y)

Conclusion The value dimension Emotions was reflected quite positively, perhaps except of the value Korean ‘Han’. Findings showed Korean drama can serve also to men as an escape to the world of emotions, from the patriarchal normative reality. Through the watching can also men express their emotions in the masculine society (Hofstede, 2017), where ‘boys don’t cry’. My respondents additionally appreciated the music which colours the dramatic plot.

7.8 Femininity

7.8.1 Korean Better Deal: Strong Heroine

When it comes to female lead, Ang (1990) defined two types of heroines. The first is a classic, melodramatic (romantic) heroine, who is defined by her dedication to others, when she thinks of herself last. These characters thus renounce their own subjectivities in favour of love for men. The second type of female heroines is a postmodern heroine, characterized, in particular, by her independence and emancipation. Both types appear in Korean drama and often within one character. It is a specific attribute of Korean drama protagonists that they within the series go through a change of personality to their ‘improved’ or perhaps

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traditionally better accepted selves. Main female protagonist in Korean drama is often poor, humble, not the brightest but cheerful and extremely hard-working with good upbringing, and intentions. The ‘designated’ value Female Attractiveness which described the emancipated kind of heroine was mostly reflected positively. My respondent preferred mostly the emancipated and strong heroines.

Who is your favourite female character? Strong woman! That is the best. Because of this I like Wonder woman. The more mentally and physically strong character the better. Empress Ki, Strong woman Do Bong Soon. I wanted to watch Cinderella and four knights but I didn’t yet. I saw just a little part from it, where she delivers pizza and kicks asses; these are my really favourite parts. And why do you think this is what you like the most? There isn’t that much series or movies where the woman can achieve something in other way than crying. I like their strength and ability to get all they want by themselves. (Jandi, 19y, high school student, daily/4y)

Compared to the Czech context, even the Czech soap opera is constructed by strongly defined characters and the numerous issues of relationships, moral and other conflicts. In his research Sloboda (2009) suggests we in the Czech soap operas also usually see women without employment or with low status jobs, such as cleaners, secretaries, nurses, men are on the other hand portrayed as owners, directors, doctors (p. 46). It might be quite tiring for a female who does not identify with such a values. The data shows my respondents prefer emancipated heroines, still female ‘enough’, however not necessarily dependent on men or societal dictate. Therefore they might prefer the Korean drama over the Czech soap opera.

[…] because I don’t posses any martial art and I couldn’t oppose to someone like they do, I don’t identify with them at all. But I definitely look up to them! (Jandi, 19y, high school student, daily/4y)

I like not completely stupid heroines, but I like them being clumsy. I think many girls can relate to that. Clumsy girls are what you like? Because I can identify with them. I am clumsy myself; I stumble over something all the time. So, as one watches it she can say: Oh it is exactly like me! (Aera, 20y, e-shop saleswoman, daily/4y)

Aera appreciated the imperfection of Korean drama heroines. Modleski (2008) suggests that the representation of perfect women might provoke anxiety because the ideal image of

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the heroine magnifies the viewer’s own imperfection. Thus, the strong but not so perfect heroines might be the combination to satisfy the taste of at least some Czech audiences. I haven’t noticed any reflected changes in attitudes or action of my respondents directly caused by the value of Female Attraction. The strong individualism of the Czech society (Hofstede, 2017) which also challenges the women to voice their opinions and to be independent might be in collision with higher masculine value of Czech society (ibid). Such a society might produce independent females however does not let them voice their opinion. Thus my respondents might prefer the escape into the Korean ‘feminine’ society (ibid).

Conclusion

As was suggested in the previous value analyses, my respondents seem to appreciate the values of emancipated heroine which drama sometimes presents. Even though the heroine has her career and is practically independent she is usually portrayed clumsy, not the brightest but cheerful with high moral standards. Some of my respondents liked the image of ‘imperfect’ heroine, since as Modelski (2008) mentions, they can relate to her imperfection.

7.9 Masculinity

7.9.1 New Perception of Masculinity

I’ve decided to pay special attention to the value dimension Masculinity, since it was with other values, such as Beautiful People which is closely connected to the value of Male Attractiveness reflected most positively by my respondents and also recognized by the majority of them. With my respondents we talked a lot about Korean versus Czech male masculinity. The consumption of Korean dramas, specifically the value dimension of Masculinity might consequent in individual’s perception of ‘Korean’ masculinity as the ideal, desired one. When it comes to reflection of the ‘designated’ value of Korean male attractiveness, many of my female respondents wanted to, could imagine, would like to have Korean boyfriend. Figures of Mazaná (2014) shows that 40% of Hallyu supporters wished for Korean boyfriends.

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Do you have or want a Korean boyfriend? Yes, I would like to try a Korean boyfriend at least once in my life. They say that it’s not that awesome, according to Korean YouTube videos I watch. At first, they brag about that they are the best and then, they complain. I don’t know what to believe to, but I know that I would like to try it once. (Gommie, 18y, high school student, daily/5y)

I don’t have, but I would like to try. It sounds embarrassing when I say, that I want to try out a Korean or Chinese (laugh), but I could imagine relationship with a Korean or Chinese. (Marika, 22y, Student of Chinese language, weekly/4y)

From Marika’s (and also other female respondents’) words and expressions I got the feeling that she is excited about the possibility of having an ‘exotic’ boyfriend. Having foreign boyfriend could be an adventure, special experience. ‘I would like to try…’ could also continue with ‘new flavours of ice-cream’. This could imply the curiosity and excitement. She also didn’t specify any actor, idol; she didn’t say I would like to try to date Lee Min-ho, which might seem too naive and far from reality. She would like to try date Korean, the man of Korean culture which could mean she wants to connect with the Korean culture through her dating experience. Marika does not view the relationship naively as a fairytale, she is pragmatic, expects the cultural differences to cause problems, however she does not see them as impossible to overcome. Her university studies of Chinese language might have shortened the distance from too-far-from-my-reality perception of relationship with Korean man. Marika also reflected the feminized look of Korean men; In our interview I focused on her perception of what she considers ‘manly’.

Do you find them feminized? It’s individual... They are metrosexuals, they put a lot of effort to look good using stylish clothes, caring about appearance. They are like... they spend more time in front of the mirror than me. Would you mind that? I think that I would rather look for such types, who don’t prefer that. Well, I like when a man is handsome but I don’t need him to be some kind of a model, who can only see his crumpled shirt and wrinkle in the mirror.

At this point, the Marika’s ideal type still somehow fits what I would imagine the typical Czech ideal man would be like for many Czech girls. However as I ask further…

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Do you mind them using BB creams? No, that is perfectly fine with me. I have nothing against it, just as I am saying, it doesn’t matter if he is white or Asian, I couldn’t be with someone who cares about himself too much, some perfectionist, for example.

Marika reveals that she wouldn’t mind her boyfriend using BB cream and skincare and indirectly that she doesn’t consider using BB cream untypical for men. She only doesn’t want her boyfriend to care ‘too much’ about his look. I could imagine that for many of the Czech girls might be ‘too much’ to accept their boyfriends wearing BB cream (which is practically make-up). In Marika’s case the perception of ‘ideal’ man might differ from the majority and her perception of ‘normal’ or ‘typical’ within Czech society might have shifted. Also other my female respondents were perfectly fine with the feminized, ‘soft’ appearance and behaviour of the Korean males they consumed through the Korean dramas.

I am into fine, delicate features of men´s face, so Asians suit me really very well. In Korea, I like men wearing make-up, I like the idea of a guy wearing a make-up, dressed in tight clothes and still is not viewed as gay and is aware of his masculinity. Do you mind them looking and behaving feminized? No, I like it. Also, I like their skinship, which they have on more advanced level than we do. I like the difference, that guys can lay on top of each other, hold hands etc. and still it won´t be considered to be something bad […]. (Maruška, 23y, English language student, sometimes/1.5y)

Maruška possibly gained the perception of ideal Korean man through the consumption of the Korean masculine values represented in Korean drama. I however cannot exclude the possibility that Maruška, or my other respondents, already previously liked these types of men and therefore only found the Korean male masculinity suitable to their already predefined taste. Some of my female respondents directly mentioned their preferences of ‘ideal man’ through the Korean drama consumption changed from white European/American (Caucasian) to Asian. Jandi told me that now her ideal man is ‘tall Korean in suit’, even though at the primary school she used to like Robert Downe Jr. Gommie previous to Korean drama used to like Jonas Brothers, Tereza liked Heath Ledger, Keanu Reeves or Matt from Baywatch night. Ester described her ideal type before drama as Czech, blond, stylish and after her ‘rock’ phase then long haired guys. It is not the first time that the non-Asian audiences of Korean drama started to appreciate Korean masculinity. One of the Kim’s (2017) respondents during the

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focus group with Ghanaians watching Korean drama described how during his psychology class while talking about beauty, the lecturer showed pictures of people and asked the student if he/she is beautiful. The student described how the whole class went upside-down, when the actor Lee Min-ho was shown on the picture. I find the appreciation of Korean masculinity/beauty by Africans even more surprising than by Europeans. I would, maybe wrongly, expect that the African masculinity is even more ‘masculine’ – ‘macho’ than the Czech perception of ‘manliness’, however somehow is Korean actor Lee Min-ho, who is also often mentioned as the number one idol by my respondents, with his feminized features considered as beautiful even in the societies outside the Asian bubble. This phenomenon could be possibly ontological consequence of the intensively consumed Korean values of masculinity, where the key to the Korean men appreciation by the Czech audiences would be hold within the gradual familiarity with the ‘Koreanness’ presented by dramas. This familiarity is fed by the extensive experience of the drama consumption using the ingredients of short storylines and strong emotions of the dramas mixed with the repetitive and long-term consumption leading to the distortion of the perception of ideal masculinity. These new consumed values of Korean drama crush the one’s perception of reality, of what he/she considers ‘normal’. The ‘normal’, the unnoticed ‘invisible’ values in the society are shaping viewers minds without the receiver even realizing its existence (Williams, 2005). The ‘normal’ is defined by the invisible societal norms. The foreign consumed Korean values of masculinity are different from the Czech ‘normal’, and different is recognizable – ‘visible’. The Korean masculine ‘visible’ values are attacking ‘invisible’ societal norms (before they are transformed into the invisible norms). The two (Czech and Korean) masculinity value dimensions can be therefore in collision. Taking Marika’s quotation as example, ‘I like when a man is handsome’ might refer to the Korean feminine beauty standards, since she later adds that the man can wear make-up... However in the second part ‘but I don’t need him to be some kind of a model, who can only see his crumpled shirt and wrinkle in the mirror’ she might be reflecting the Czech ‘manly’ masculinity standard within the Czech society. My respondents also acted upon their likings and two of them who had partners at a time of interview projected Korean drama values into their relationships. First, I will mention specific case of RonnieB who used to be my student and whom one day started to date

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another student of mine. In this specific case I could also observe both during the school hours. Through our interview I asked her if she preferred Korean males before Czech males…

Yes. [She paused for a short moment] Not anymore, but I did like them. I still like them…I liked, that they are different. It’s not typical for us. Have you ever wanted to date a Korean? Before I used to think like that. I was like, I’ll marry a Korean, but not anymore, I don’t need it now. Since you have started dating Marek? (Her boyfriend) Yes, there was time when I really liked Asians and nobody in Czechia. It won’t happen just like that, like a magic that I’ll move to Korea and I’ll find somebody there. I said to myself, hmmm, he is not Asian [her boyfriend Marek] but I don’t mind. (RonnieB, 20y, high school student, weekly/3y)

One day Marek came to class with new hairstyle very untypical to what he looked before and not matching his character. The new shiny blond color of his hair and stylish cut conspicuously reminded me the Korean ‘idol’ look. I asked RonnieB about it. It’s not my fault! (laugh). No, it's probably a bit of my influence but he didn’t say he minds it, he didn’t complain or anything like that (laugh). Did you style him? I guess so, my influence showed up a little bit, my habit of watching K-pop and dramas.

In other case, when I talked with Aliee, who was really interested in fashion styles and claimed that Korea replaced the France as a new fashion Mecca, Aliee mentioned, that she adored the couple clothing. It is typical for Korean couples in the dramas and on the streets to dress similarly, have the same pair of shoes or t-shirt or jackets, etc.

Do you also have such couple outfits? Yes, we have a backpacks and hoodies […] Was that your initiative? Yes, the backpacks or the hoodies I made them myself. We designed together what it will represent […] Has your boyfriend objected? No, he likes it too. Does he also watch Korean drama? He is Vietnamese (laugh) (Aliee, 17y, high school student, sometimes/5y)

Aliee didn’t specifically say she has Vietnamese boyfriend because of her preferences of Asian masculinity values. However what she describes she likes about her boyfriend

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conspicuously matches to what my other respondents named as attributes of ideal man and ideal relationship. Aliee liked how her boyfriend in comparison to the ethnical Czech boyfriend of her sister was more considerate and helpful. Aliee’s ethnic Vietnamese boyfriend according to her treated her better. He cooked for her, helped her with the chores. Aliee explained to me, how the boyfriend of her sister would have never do that.

I can see the difference when I compare him to my sister’s boyfriend. He doesn’t give her money for shopping for groceries even though he earns more money than her and knows that he will also be eating the food. When my boyfriend and I agree to cook something together, he buys half of ingredients, for example the chicken and we prepare it together. Sister’s boyfriend just wants to be serviced, when he comes to visit us for lunch, the first thing he complains why there aren’t potatoes with Chicken, why is there rice? He is so rude. [...] I like our relationship is comfortable, I don’t have to ask him about anything, he just does it by himself. I think it´s because of his Asian upbringing, they are taught to be disciplined, so it’s just natural for him.

Aliee thinks that the typical Czech boys, for example her classmates behave childishly and try to prove they are adults through the wrong actions, such as opposing the teacher. These according to Aliee ‘typical’ Czech boys are not mature because they don’t have ‘Asian upbringing’. From the interview with Aliee I understood she appreciated the ‘Asian values’ of Confucian tradition in general, not just Korean masculine values. I suspect that the Korean values consumed through the drama or other Korean media export somehow ‘designated’ how her ideal man and relationship should be/look like and the ethnic Vietnamese with the Asian upbringings seems to fit her ideal.

7.9.2 Appealing Korean Gender Proximity

The critique of Czech masculinity value by my respondents was quite severe. I tried to understand why the offered and consumed package of Korean masculinity values seems to be so attractive and preferable for my respondents compared to the Czech males.

Why Korean? They are, I don’t know…nice, more pleasant. Definitely there are Korean guys who behave like machos but Czech guys behave like that 90% of time, mostly in front of other guys. Korean men are good- looking, nice and honestly… I don’t understand why some Czech guys behave like that. It never happened to me that my boyfriend would carry my handbag, unless it has twenty kilos. I live close to

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Anděl, so I see a lot of Korean men in the very same pink t-shirts as their girlfriend’s t-shirts. When I see it in drama and then in the street, it’s awesome. […] My dad is a typical Czech. Broad shoulders, tall, bearded with almost bald head. His friends are the same practically, so are my friends. I don’t find attractive when guy has long beard, that’s not my type. […] I will definitely prefer the manager in the suit, who is also Asian than some [Czech] farmer who thanks to his big muscles can lift a cow. (Jandi, 19y, high school student, daily/4y)

Probably because I like the cuteness, while Czech boys completely hate this…If I showed ‘Itjanha naega’, the confession song, to some Czech boy, he would stare at me with horrible face and would complain that his ears hurt. I find them [Koreans] more as gentlemen…maybe when boys watch dramas, it’s possible that they learn, or get ideas how to treat a girl. (Aera, 20y, e-shop saleswoman, daily/4y)

From the other point of view, I asked my male respondent Ivan, if he is inspired by Korean dramas. Ivan mostly doesn’t project the values into his life. For example he doesn’t use make up. However he once tried out a ‘scene’ he liked from drama in the real life.

Did you take something from dramas? Well, the rain-thing, from the movie…Moment to remember, one actor has double role, can’t remember the name though... I know, when he covers her with hoodie… Yes, the jacket, I tried it once. How did it go? Not so well. I didn’t do it in the end, just suggested it. [She refused] (Ivan, 20y, Korean language student, weekly/2y)

I could continue with other complains about the ‘typical’ Czech masculinity. My female respondents’ ideal man was described as ‘cute’ but also ‘manly’ usually meaning ‘tall’ and ‘assertive’, ‘sensitive’, ‘gentle’, ‘empathetic’, ‘caring’ etc. which match the image of ‘androgynous‘ ideal of romantic contents (Radway, 1984). However many my respondents didn’t found such a values within their experiences with Czech masculine values (except the ideal height), but they seemed to find it and highlighted it within Korean dramas’ masculine values and also, which is important they confirmed it in reality. The ‘typical’ Czech manliness described as ‘tall’, ‘big’, ‘masculine’ but also ‘intolerant’, ‘egoistic’, ‘not-caring’, ‘not gentle’, ‘not empathetic’, ‘macho’, ‘unkempt’ lost to ‘feminized’ Korean (Asian) manliness. According to Hofstede (2017) is Czech masculine society For such a society it is typical that success is defined by the winners, is ego oriented, the importance stands with the

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money and things. In such a society are conflicts solved through force, patriarchal view point is considered a norm, for example only man can be priests, men should be managers, girls cry and boys don’t / boys fight, girls don’t. On the other hand, Korea is feminine society. ‘Femininity stands for a society in which social gender roles overlap: Both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life’ (2001, p. 297). It is society oriented towards relationships, conflicts are negotiated, both boys and girls cry/no one fights. Even though not all the values match accurately, Hofstede’s model can at least little enlighten the motives behind the preferences of my respondents in Korean masculinity.

Conclusion I suspect that the Korean, in many ways more feminine (Hofstede, 2017), cultural values are ‘designated’ into the media products, especially to a Korean drama. The Czech audiences is set within masculine patriarchal values of Czech society, based on the binary opposition of genders – men fight/girls cry, men are rough/girls are gentle… This gender binary is not appreciated by my respondents, and even though they don’t dismiss the Czech masculine values completely, my respondents mostly found the alternative offered by Korean masculine values transmitted by Korean drama consumption as preferable. The Korean masculine value dimension is much ‘friendlier’ and ‘considerate’ of female gender. They don’t have to ‘play by the rules’ of the Czech masculine society. This preferential liking of Korean masculinity is conditioned by what I call ‘gender proximity’, suggesting the closed distance between genders. The gender proximity seems to offer an alternative to my respondents.

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V. DISCUSSION

As was already mentioned, soap opera is a television genre that consists of three important interconnected elements: production, product, audience. Kellner (1995) argues that soap opera should be studied in relation to all three of these basic aspects: political culture (production), cultural text (product), and audience reception (audience). The present paper already detailed the audience and partly also the product and, though little attention was paid to the production. This third aspect will now be briefly discussed for Korean drama in the context of the thesis results. Subsequently, the results of the study will be placed in the context of relevant literature to contextualize the results and highlight its academic contribution to the given topic. Today, dramas are an inseparable commodity of Korean culture. There is certainly a factor of self-control, and the consumer can choose what to consume and what to avoid. Such control is based on the individuality of consumer. The individualistic choice is limited by the standard of living of the masses, by the palette of offered commodities, their price and others circumstances. The Korean government’s support of popular culture seems to be paying off, although the expansion of popular culture may have secondary effects on the consumer society. The British Marxist novelist and critic John Berger claims that ‘the purpose of publicity is to make the spectator marginally dissatisfied with his present way of life. Not with the way of life of society, but with his own within it. It suggests that if he buys what it is offering, his life will become better. It offers him an improved alternative to what he is.’ (1972, p. 142) It seems rather convenient that the Korean government, driven by advanced capitalism, presents Korean popular culture as a form of relaxation while gaining income to further contribute to its media circulation. Berger then questions the democracy of such a society: ‘Publicity turns consumption into a substitute for democracy. The choice of what one eats (or wears or drives) takes the place of significant political choice. Publicity helps to mask and compensate for all that is undemocratic within society […].’ (ibid, p. 149) Whether society is being manipulated or not, the key factors – in previously set conditions – seem to be the media and the content of popular culture. In the literature review, several studies were presented (Jung, 2010; Cho, 2004; Chan, 2007; Lee, Ham and Kim, 2014; Lee, 2004, etc.) that suggested media content affect the daily life of its consumers. In the same sense, the theoretical part introduces the 106

elements of Americanization and media imperialism (Schiller, 1971). This study found that, as a media text, Korean drama affects its consumers’ daily life similarly to American productions. There is, however, one additional finding. The respondents’ preference for ‘Western’ values, which are generally accepted as the result of the Americanization of the world through the consumption of American media texts, suggests the respondents’ identification with the ‘Western’ values they see in the dramas. Their consumption thus leads to a reunion with the ‘old Western friend’. This could mean that Czech society is also Americanized to a certain degree and that the values of a ‘Western’, ‘modern’ society are consequently appreciatively received by them in Americanized Korean dramas, specifically in the values represented by emancipated female leads45: the Western work ethic, the individual’s needs and opinions, the self- confidence and directivity of female protagonists; and also those values represented through all the dramas’ plots – the cosmopolitan consumer lifestyle. Korean media can very possibly be the tool for the ideological cultural transition of Korean popular media content to foreign countries. To sustain foreign audiences, Korea might tailor its media content according to audience preferences, leading to a wider consumption of other media content. A fan of Korean drama sees the main protagonists using Samsung smartphones or Missha BB cream, which can lead to the fan wanting to buy those brands. The results of this study show that the studied Czech audiences shopped for Korean cosmetics, fashion and food. If given the resources, they would travel to Korea and thus contribute to the Korea’s income from tourism. The demand for Korean goods rises together with its offer. Society is evolving. For example, Missha cosmetics opened its first Czech branch in 2013 in Brno and then moved to Prague. Apart from established Korean restaurants in Prague, the new Korean bistro Doširak opened this year (2017) in Brno. Hyundai and Kia cars are enjoying rising popularity with Czech buyers (CIA, 2017). Two of the respondents admitted they pressured their parents to buy Korean cars when shopping for a new vehicle. On the other hand, the figures show that only about 10% of Czechs have ever heard of ‘hallyu’ or ‘Korean wave’ (Mazaná, 2014). Global localization (Thussu, 2007) could be seen

45 This also explains the respondents’ dissatisfaction when the female lead archetype portrays ‘Asian values’, showing a submissive, ‘inferior’ heroine in relation to men and elders.

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as a possible long-term strategy to strengthen and sustain the Korean position of a sovereign, modern and developed country. The success is often attributed to the Korea’s overwhelmingly capitalistic focus. ‘The consuming struggle for economic success according to capitalist standards became the new ideal for South Koreans.’ (Kim, 2003, p. 97) The responding social changes in each country can be then understood as Korean means of cultural imperialism. However, this study also provided the realization that the consumption of foreign soap opera naturally makes consumers notice differences between societies, practically adopting the practice of an active audience (Fiske, 1989) and thus acquiring a more critical view of their everyday environment. Korean drama values are different from what the respondents considered ‘normal’. This does not only mean that the Korean values which penetrate the audiences’ lives are visible, it also consequently means that the previously invisible societal norms (Williams, 2005) lose their invisible coat of ontological familiarity because the consumers realize that the ‘new’ values of the drama are in collision with their own values and societal ones and therefore naturally notice the collision. Korean drama values are different – visible – and therefore chosen to be consumed. This character of value transition might make the audiences of Korean drama realize and compare both, their societal norms and the values of Korean drama. The values appear to work cross-dimensionally and blend together to create a ‘cocktail’, which if drank fully and often can influence the trajectory of the individual’s life. The relevance of this study is also linked to the tendency of potential audience growth. Although no steady data is available to support the claim, personal experience of the author may be shared for anecdotal evidence at least. One of the author’s students and a respondent, Joone, was able to ‘infect’ another two students, her desk neighbours, with the Hallyu fever during the last half year. During break time they look at pictures of Korean idols. One of Joone’s friends said that she was slowly becoming ‘infected’ by Joone’s ‘obsession’. They sometimes play the game of ‘who will guess the name first’ as they look through the idols’ pictures. RonnieB, another, now ex-student of the author, also introduced Hallyu to her boyfriend, and they have watched Korean dramas together ever since. The audience of Korean drama might expand in the future, thus retroactively boosting the utility of the present explorative research and the novelty of the data it presents.

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Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research

The results offer an overview of the reflection of the ‘designated’ values of Korean dramas in Czech audiences. The author strongly recommends a further, deeper focus on specific value dimensions and ‘designated’ values. The value dimensions are extracted from the literature review; it is suggested to provide additional content analyses to determine the most relevant values. It could be also the case that Hofstede’s value dimensions are used. The analyses of the value dimensions of Masculinity and Femininity provided insightful areas for further exploration. The studied topic is quite broad and concludes the analyses of nine value dimensions. The limits of this work stem primarily from its limited capacity, which did not allow for fully comprehensive analyses of the intriguing findings. Likewise, the work also implies the possibilities of new and diverse ways of exploring the topic. For example, the consumerist lifestyle could be studied through the perspective of the theory of uses and gratifications to find out why audiences choose to watch Korean drama in the first place and what gratifications the audiences are looking for and gaining by the consumption of Korean drama. Besides the suggested further focus on the production of Korean drama, for example, through interviews with creators, writers and producers of the dramas, and besides the suggested deeper look into specific values, given the novelty of the results, there are many possible further options for research based on the results of the thesis. The topic can be also studied through the optics of cultural proximity and diasporas, thus placing more focus on the transculturality of the consumption process. Age could also be the research determinant, since the study suggests that older viewers consume the values less intensely and that the values do not affect older viewers’ lives as significantly. It could be viewed through the optics of ethnicity, as the results suggest a different reflection of Korean drama by ethnic Vietnamese respondents and ethnic Czech respondents. Another possibility would be to explore the topic with a special focus on gender and related roles. The contribution of the present study stems from its singularity. This research may be the only qualitative inquiry into Korean drama audiences’ consumption in the context of Czech society.

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VI. CONCLUSION

Which ‘designated’ values of Korean dramas are reflected in the studied Czech audiences of Korean drama? All the values were at least partly reflected in the studied audiences. The observed Czech audiences of Korean drama reflect most of the ‘designated’ values positively. This is an expectable finding since the research sample consists of ‘fans’ of Korean drama. Overall, the respondents liked the values of Korean drama, the only exception being the value dimension of ‘Confucianist’ Values, which was reflected fairly negatively and neutrally. This may be explained through the optics of the collision of national cultural values, which may have partly predetermined the respondents’ affinity for individualism. According to Hofstede’s (2017) model, this specific dimension is where both cultures differ the most. The invisible norms within Czech society (Williams, 2005), which are determined by their cultural values, cannot naturally merge with the societal norms of South Korea that are embodied in the dramas. The individualistic nature of the respondents prevented them from accepting the extremely different norms of Korean society. However, one intriguing result of the research is the similarity in how the respondents reflected the values. While avoiding overgeneralization, the table of reflected values shows that the respondents perceived the values in a similar way with regard to positive/negative connotations. Regardless of education, age or gender, the respondents all appreciated the beautiful protagonists in the dramas, they were mostly acceptive of the magnificent scenery full of modern technology, they were attracted to the depiction of Korean masculinity and appreciated the strong independent female protagonists. They also positively reflected the broad choice of genres where everyone could find satisfaction tailored to their taste. The audience of a specific genre, such as soap opera, often creates an ‘interpretative community’, which shares feedback on identical experiences, discourses and frameworks for media readings and interpretations (McQuail, 2000, p. 329). The studied audiences of Korean drama may have developed an interpretative community of Korean drama, at least with regard to their preferences, likes and dislikes, obviously with exceptions. Looking at the data through the optics of individual cases, the most critical respondent was Jana, the 48-year-old neurologist with postgraduate education, who interpreted five of the values negatively. Her critical attitude may stem from her education and her age. She 110

specifically dislikes the overwhelming Asian working ethic, the intense respect for elders, the collective behavior or overly tragic scenes that portray grief and force emotional reactions from the viewers. However, another interpretation seems more probable. Close observation during the interview suggested that Jana felt obligated to maintain face relative to what was expected from her status. Similarly, although the ethnic Vietnamese Milan was the most ‘neutral’ of the respondents, he might not have expressed his real opinions. This could also be interpreted as an obligation to the status of a well-behaved, well-raised child of ‘Asian’ values. These could be understood as performances which are given by societal norms as they might want to avoid the stigmatic punishments (Goffman, 1963) of Czech society. Thus hey consider Korean dramas as ‘guilty pleasures’ (Radway, 1984). While Jana searches for escape from hard day at work, Milan escapes the Czech masculine society (Hofstede, 2017) and gets his dose of emotions he longs for. The most positive reflection of the values came from the respondent Area. Personal observation even showed considerable visual evidence of Korean influence. Area wears Korean-style enlarging contacts and uses make-up according to Korean fashion. This illustrates one of the interesting findings of this study. The intensity with which values are projected into the viewer’s life might not correlate merely with the intensity of viewing, the length of consumption and the amount of dramas viewed, but is might also stem from how positively the viewer reflected the values of Korean drama. Also Gommie reflected the dramas mostly positively. She is, when it comes to intensity definitely watched the most dramas of all my respondents. However Gommie is not ‘looking’ like Korean. Her physical beauty is not to match with the Korean dramas standards but she speak Korean, eats like Korean, acts like Korean and in her free time she translates subtitles to make dramas accessible to non-bilingual fans. This I interpret as differential projection of the ‘designated’ values into the lives of respondents, depending on the previously defined values of individual. The respondents thus seem to interpret the values similarly in discourse of Czech societal norms and values, and differently in discourse of the value system of individuals. When it comes to specific ‘designated’ values, the Respect for Elders, Collectivism, Asian work Ethic and Korean ‘han’ seemed to be reflected the least, and when it was, then quite negatively. Contrarily, Beautiful people and Attractiveness was the motivating factor for why most of the respondents started watching Korean drama or continued to do so.

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How did the studied Czech audiences reflect the ‘designated’ values of Korean drama in the context of the Czech Republic?

The analyses have suggested a number of possible explanations of the reflection of Korean drama by the studied audiences in a qualitative optics: ‘Comfortable’ before ‘Korean’, Collision of Cultures, Experiencing the ‘Authentic Korea’: Tasting Korea, Experiencing the ‘Authentic Korea’: Talking Korea, Spoiling the Audience, Dream Comes True: Living Korea, Asian is ‘Sexy’: Shift in the Perception of Beauty, Meeting the Good Old ‘Western’ Friend, Ontologically Secured Escape from Reality to ‘Familiarly Special’, Declaration of ‘Peculiarity’, Even the Prince Cries: Reminder of Emotional-self, Korean Better Deal: Strong Heroine, New Perception of Masculinity and finally Appealing Korean Gender Proximity. For brevity’s sake, closer commentary is given to only the most significant results of this part.

‘Confucianist’ Values Category Collision of Cultures reviled the respondents didn’t let the poorly appreciated values affect their lives. They were, because of the collision of cultural national values (Hofstede, 2017), able to recognize the ‘Confucianist’ values and if they didn’t want to intentionally reflect them in their lives, they simply didn’t. The obvious collision of values helps the studied audiences to be ‘active’ (Fiske, 1989). On the other hand, the value of Humbleness seems to affect the respondents unintentionally as they bow their head to express gratitude, which is not typical for the Czech social environment and which they don’t necessarily appreciate since they seem to want to avoid the possible stigmatization (Goffman, 1963) possibly caused by the conflict with prevailing values and norms of Czech society. The category of ‘Comfortable’ before ‘Korean’ reveals that the Czech audience is – within the conceptualization of this study – ‘too comfortable’. This claim must be understood connotatively rather than denotatively, since previously discussed conditions of national cultural values might be part of the apparent ‘laziness’. In several cases, the respondents did not see the aspects of Asian work ethic, collectivism and respect for elders in a positive light with regard to inspiration or motivation. Respondents labelled the dramas ‘too extreme’ in that sense. They described it as ‘admirable’ but ‘too hard’, although they admired the drive of the Korean female protagonist. This finding is partly in contrast with previous research on

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Chinese audiences described in the literature review. The Chinese viewers appreciated the Confucian tradition to a greater degree than the Czech respondents. According to Lin and Tong’s study (2008), Chinese respondents liked more ‘traditional values’ in the dramas, such as children’s respect for their parents and for elders, a married woman’s respect for her mother-in-law, that a woman should ‘help her husband and teach her children’ (p. 103). In the present study, the respondents’ upbringing in a society of individualistic values (Hofstede, 2017) and invisible norms did not allow them to appreciate these values to such an extent. In their view, respect does not come naturally, it has to be earned. They approached the dimension more sparingly than Chinese audiences.

‘Typical’ Korean This part revealed the high intensity the respondents longed to experience an authentic ‘Korean’ feeling, either through Korean gastronomy or by identification through Korean language. They wanted to be part of the world they watched. Rather than simply consuming food from Korea, the respondents wanted to experience Korean culture through its authentic gastronomy experience, for example, by visiting authentic Korean restaurants. Many Malaysians started to frequent Korean restaurants to taste kimchi or bulgogi (Cho, 2010). The study of Lee, Ham and Kim (2014) revealed that the positive image of Korea through drama consumption has a significant impact on the desire to visit Korean restaurants and try their food. Most of my respondents travelled to Prague for a ‘culinary’ trip to experience Korean cuisine. Korean restaurants are the most accessible real-life Korean experience the respondents can reach without a substantial investment of time or money. Besides Prague, a Korean bistro Doširak recently opened in Brno, possibly in response to the growing demand for authentic Korean cuisine. The respondents adopted the Korean manners represented in dramas, such as slurping and eating with the chopsticks. Some even overcame the previous dislike of spicy food to be able to experience authentic Korea through the food. This value dimension thus directly affected their actions and attitudes. Similarly, the language seems to be one of the reasons why respondents prioritized Korean drama over the TV series of other countries. Many of the respondents started to study the language, they have bought self-study textbooks, and several of them are taking lessons. It can be compared to the case of Americanization (Schiller, 1971), since the language is the obvious result of it. Even the academy adopted this ‘universal’ language. The ‘Koreanization’ might be the cause for the 113

growing popularity of Korean language and also the numbers of students applying for the Korean language studies (Mazaná, 2014).

Universality The conceptualized category of Universality has been termed the value dimension of Spoiling the Audience to imply the wide range of options and variants available to satisfy the diverse tastes of the respondents. All of them appreciated the broad choice of genres. Another value that was appreciated within this dimension was the less provocative content. As stated by the respondents, they welcomed an alternative to overly sexualized and violent American TV series. Less Provocation value is surprisingly consistent with Chinese audiences’ reflection. Lin and Tong’s (2008) respondents preferred ‘physical love’ being suppressed. Also, surprisingly, there was little criticism of the ‘purity’ of Korean drama, considering the individualistic society the respondents come from. However, this could be explained by Hofstede’s national cultural value dimension of Indulgence. Apparently, both cultures fall in to Hofstede’s (2017) category of resistant societies, which are typical for valuing control of the gratification of their desires. Czech and Korean societies score the same (29) in this aspect and might consider indulgence to be inappropriate. Therefore, Korean drama content that recognizes and presents the norms of one resistant society suits the taste of members of a similarly resistant society, overcoming the cultural distances of a foreign culture.

Modernity The analysis of this value dimension resulted in the theoretical category of Meeting the Good Old ‘Western’ Friend, implying that the value dimension of modernity encompasses ‘Western’ values, which often meant the opposite to ‘Asian’ values in the perception of the studied audiences. In that sense the analysis showed that audiences preferred westernized heroines who can stand up for themselves, are independent, and have a successful career. This finding is also supported by Hofstede’s definition of Czech society as individualistic, where everyone voices their own opinion. Thus, influenced by Czech societal norms, the respondents preferred heroines closer to their previously defined individualistic values, which they could relate to. They also appreciated the ‘concept of true love’, which is ‘hard to find’ in the overly sexualized TV production of other countries. They liked the higher status of love,

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which connects souls beyond the mere physical. The respondents had a strongly developed sense for social justice, and so they appreciated the high moral values of the main female protagonist. An unexpected finding was that several of the respondents had been bullied when growing up and, as they explained, the drama showed them how to stand up for themselves, thus boosting their self-confidence. Even though dramas ‘combine both existing and idealized (consumerist) lifestyles into the storylines’ (Lin and Tong, 2008, p. 100), the respondents did not seem to consume Korean products heavily. The reason is probably the lack of resources. However, when given the chance, they shopped for cosmetics, food or fashion. Technological goods were seen as ‘too expensive’ and uneconomic and thus not interesting enough to purchase.

Emotions

This value dimension’s most relevant finding is the category of Even the Prince Cries: Reminder of One’s Emotional-self. It revealed that males also turn to drama for its emotional structure. The male respondents escaped from the Czech masculine (Hofstede, 2012) world to a place where emotions were ‘allowed’ and possible to relate to. The data revealed the respondents appreciated the dominant emotional structure of the dramas, they also cry often when watching. The study of Lu and Argyle found that people who watch soap operas are mostly more extraverted, cooperative and happier than the viewers of TV in general (Lu, Argyle 1993). The respondents of the present study also appeared to be cheerful and mostly extraverted.

Aesthetics The analysis of the Aesthetics value dimension is represented by two theoretical categories, Dream Comes True: Living Korea and Asian is ‘Sexy’: Shift in Perception of Beauty. The findings correspond with previous studies of Asian audiences (Lin and Tong, 2008), in which the study groups also highly appreciated beautiful people, beautiful sceneries and beautiful clothing. Beauty seems to be an enormously appreciated value and is also reflected in the lives of the respondents. For example, Czech viewers started using make-up more sparingly, they switched to Korean cosmetics, such as Missha’s BB cream, and their perception of beauty shifted. In several cases they stopped sunbathing and changed their ideal from tanned skin to white. The respondents also shopped for the clothes they saw in dramas at 115

local shops. Korean dramas made the Korean masculinity, similarly as in the case of Japanese audiences (Singhal and Kim, 2009), turn from ‘invisibility’ to ‘visibility’, in the optics of the respondents. Similarly to research by Chan (2007), the results showed the need of the studied audiences to validate the accuracy of Korea represented in the dramas. Thus, the respondents did not merely want to visit Korea, they wanted to stay there for a longer period of time.

Exotic Fairy Tale

The analysis defined the categories of Ontologically Secured Escape from Reality to ‘Familiarly Special’ and Declaration of ‘Peculiarity’. The respondents watched the drama to escape from reality. They usually turned to drama to ‘take a break’. The additional value of Korean drama was its exotic flavor. The respondents felt like they were discovering a new world, as if by watching the drama they could learn new things and thus avoid feeling guilty for wasting time. Radway (1984) also found that women who read romantic novels usually felt guilty for consuming products of lower (popular) culture, they thus self-justified their passtime by claiming it made them read a lot and that reading was educational. The respondents of the present study manifested their ‘difference’ or ‘peculiarity’ from ordinary people defined by stereotypes of Czech culture by becoming part of the Korean drama community, so they could share their experience; for example, they visited community meetings like K-pop contests, parties, they even organized them or performed in them, they were part of fan subbing groups and translated subtitles or wrote articles for the websites AsianStar.cz and AsianStyle.cz. They appreciated the storyline of the dramas, they felt like experts because they were soon able to recognize the repetitive patterns of Korean drama (the first kiss in about the ninth episode, ‘piggybacking’ after the heroine drinks something, etc), which ontologically secured (Giddens, 1991) them in the drama world. The blend of exoticism and familiarity made them feel like they were entering a familiar yet exotic world every time they watched the dramas.

Femininity

This dimension was conceptualized into the category of Korean Better Deal: Strong Heroine. The majority of the respondents related to strong, emancipated heroines. The respondents’ preferences can be understood in connection with the individualistic nature of

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Czech society (Hofstede, 2012). They are inspired and motivated by the ‘westernized’ main female protagonist, who can stand up for herself. The archetypical heroine is usually clumsy and light-minded. The respondents were thus not discouraged by a confrontation with an overly perfect role model that would be hard to follow. Modleski (2008) suggests that the representation of perfect women might provoke anxiety because the ideal image of the heroine magnifies the viewer’s own imperfection.

Masculinity

This dimension analysis resulted in the following theoretical categories: New Perception of Masculinity and Appealing Korean Gender Proximity. The interviews showed not only that most of the respondents did not have partners (only four had boyfriends, only two of which were native ethnic Caucasian Czechs) but also that if they did have one, the value dimension of Masculinity, specifically the designated value of Male Attractiveness, in combination with the value dimensions of Aesthetics and Typical Korean and possibly also other values of Korean drama penetrated their perception of the ideal man and consequently also their tastes, desires and relationships. All the female respondents liked the Korean males presented in the dramas. Similarly, the males liked the female heroines in the dramas. However, the female respondents did not always warm up to the Korean protagonist from the start. The results showed that Korean drama might introduce female Czech audiences to feminine Korean society (Hofstede, 2012), thus freeing them of the stereotypes of the masculine Czech society, and their ‘taste’ in men shifted towards a more Korean type. The present paper terms this concept Korean gender proximity. The respondents considered the dramas’ protagonists visually attractive and also appreciated their mentality and character. The female respondents were mostly looking for Korean boyfriends or at least Korean types of boyfriends. They liked the values represented by Korean men in the dramas. The respondents then reflected the consumed values of ideal masculinity in their real-life relationships, consequently influencing their boyfriends’ attitudes or style.

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VIII. LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 ‘Designated’ values of Korean Drama ...... 46

Table 2 Phase1: Example of closed coding and reorganization of the data ...... 61

Table 3 Phase 2: Example of open coding and line-by-line coding ...... 61

Table 4 Example of focused coding, categorization of concepts ...... 62

Table 5 Respondents: basic demographic data of the respondents ...... 65

Table 6 ‘Designated’ values reflected in studied audiences ...... 69

Table 7 Results of the theoretical coding ...... 70

IX. LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Structure of Cultural Levels by Geert Hofstede ...... 31

Figure 2 Comparison of value dimensions for Czech Republic and Korea ...... 34

Figure 3 Diagram of coding paradigm by Strauss and Corbin ...... 62

Figure 4 Diagram of the analysis process of the conducted interviews ...... 63

Figure 5 Drama I know/watched ratio ...... 68

Figure 6 Respondents’ preferences of Korean drama genres ...... 80

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X. INDEX

6-D Model, 32 fashion, 29, 35, 36, 38, 45, 85, 87, 91, 102, 111 action, 13, 22, 30, 81, 98 Featherstone, 89, 118 advertisement, 24, 55 femininity, 31, 43 aesthetics, 88, 89, 90, 92 Fiske, 13, 118, 119 Allen, 10, 25, 118 gender proximity, 62, 103, 105 America, 14, 35 genre, 11, 14, 80, 81, 110, 121 Americanisation, 21 Gerbner, 67, 119 Ang, 10, 13, 50, 95, 96, 118 Giddens, 20, 83, 119 Anger, 10, 59, 118 Glaser, 51, 57, 62, 119 AsianStar, 55, 85 globalization, 120 Beautiful Landscapes, 45, 87 Globalized Consumer Lifestyle, 45, 89, 91, 92 Beautiful People, 45, 69, 85, 87, 89, 98 Gross, 67, 119 beauty, 36, 38, 45, 87, 89, 90, 91, 92, 101, 111 Grounded Theory in Ethnography, 9, 49, 52 Berger, 118 Hallyu, 8, 11, 25, 26, 27, 28, 44, 59, 66, 76, 79, 85, 118, Burton, 83, 118 121, 122, 123 capitalism, 21 han, 42, 46, 94, 96, 111 Cintas, 27, 118 Hanaki, 39, 42, 87, 94, 119, 120 cliché, 19 Hannerz, 119 collectivism, 31, 112 Hasegawa, 24, 25, 119 Confucian tradition, 40, 103, 113 Hayashi, 42, 119 Confucianist values, 8, 37, 40, 41, 45, 47, 69, 70, 71, 76, Heinberg, 89, 119 112 Heo, 11, 119 consumer lifestyle, 22, 38 heroine, 17, 18, 19, 22, 44, 96, 98 consumption, 1, 7, 8, 10, 12, 16, 19, 21, 22, 27, 29, 34, historical, 12, 14, 15, 42, 81, 85 38, 39, 46, 47, 52, 59, 60, 64, 72, 77, 82, 83, 84, 87, Hobson, 10, 119 88, 89, 90, 92, 98, 100, 101, 105, 111, 113, 118, 121, Hofstede, 9, 30, 31, 32, 34, 47, 63, 75, 81, 90, 93, 95, 96, 122 98, 104, 105, 110, 111, 114, 119, 120, 122 cosmetics, 17, 29, 59, 87, 89, 91, 92 Hofstede’s model, 9, 30, 63, 105 cultural identity, 21 Hong, 12, 16, 23, 35, 40, 41, 42, 43, 118, 120, 121 cultural imperialism, 21 Humbleness, 45, 71, 72 cultural proximity, 66, 123 Chan, 24, 29, 35, 67, 118 cultural values, 1, 7, 28, 30, 32, 41, 47, 82, 83, 90, 93, Charmaz, 50, 51, 52, 54, 57, 58, 60, 62, 118 105, 110, 112 China, 11, 15, 17, 25, 27, 82, 119, 120, 121 Czech audiences, 1, 8, 9, 10, 14, 19, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, Cho, 12, 25, 38, 39, 40, 76, 113, 118, 121 46, 47, 49, 61, 69, 70, 75, 77, 87, 98, 101, 105, 110, Chua, 8, 10, 12, 25, 35, 87, 118 112 in-depth interviews, 7, 9 Czech Republic, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 19, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 47, individualism, 38, 45, 76, 98, 110 52, 66, 70, 87, 88, 112, 122 Indulgence, 31, 114 designated values, 7, 8, 30, 31, 32, 70, 76, 92 Iwabuchi, 8, 10, 12, 25, 35, 87, 118, 120, 121 Deuchler, 15, 118 Japan, 12, 15, 27, 41, 90, 119 Dramaworld, 17, 18, 19, 41 Jiang, 37, 41, 120 East Asia, 16, 25, 119 Jirák, 83, 118 emotional realism, 61, 95 Kellner, 120 emotions, 15, 18, 42, 44, 46, 78, 83, 95, 96, 101, 111 Khagram, 20, 120 Escapism, 46, 83 Kim, 3, 8, 10, 17, 29, 90, 92, 100, 119, 120, 121 Exotic Fairy Tale, 7, 8, 41, 47, 61, 82, 83 kkonminam syndrome, 44 family, 3, 13, 15, 37, 38, 40, 41, 45, 46, 62, 73, 74, 75, 87, Knafo, 30, 35, 120 88, 93 Ko, 38, 41, 120 fandom, 47 KOCIS, 11, 12, 23, 35, 37, 40, 42, 124 126

Korean culture, 24, 26, 29, 59, 64, 76, 77, 79, 87, 99, 113 qualitative research, 7, 35 Korean drama, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, quantitative research, 10, 27, 67, 69 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 37, 39, 40, questionnaire, 36, 56, 67, 68 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 49, 52, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64, Radway, 10, 83, 85, 89, 104, 111, 122 66, 67, 69, 70, 72, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, Ramalho, 51, 122 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 100, 101, Rao, 16, 122 102, 105, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114 Respect for Elders, 45, 69, 71, 72, 111 Korean food, 26, 29, 39, 59, 76, 77 Roccas, 30, 35, 120 Korean language, 8, 29, 40, 71, 73, 78, 79, 104, 113 Rokeach, 30, 122 Korean wave, 8, 10, 23, 26, 28, 40, 118, 120, 124 romance, 14, 41, 43, 81, 83, 85, 95 K-pop, 16, 28, 29, 59, 64, 85, 88, 94, 102, 120, 123 Rom-Com, 11, 14 Kristeva, 13, 121 Sagiv, 30, 35, 120 Kwan, 43 Shin, 16, 38, 40, 78, 123 Lee, 10, 16, 25, 37, 38, 40, 42, 60, 99, 101, 119, 121 Schiller, 21, 119, 122 Leung, 20, 36, 37, 41, 42, 120, 121 Schwartz, 31, 120, 123 Levitt, 20, 120 Silverman, 49, 123 Lewis, 24, 121 Singhal, 42, 87, 90, 92, 94, 119, 120 Lin, 25, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 82, 113, Sloboda, 97, 123 114, 121 snowball technique, 64 Lindlof, 55, 56, 121 soap opera, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 20, 22, 25, 47, 52, 59, 95, Luhmann, 93, 122 97, 110, 118, 121 masculinity, 92, 98, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 110, Social Justice, 38, 45, 69, 92, 93, 94 118 soft power, 23, 120 Mazaná, 10, 26, 27, 28, 29, 47, 54, 66, 67, 76, 122 Stormer, 89, 119 McQuail, 50, 110, 122 Straubhaar, 66, 123 McSweeney, 32, 122 Strauss, 51, 62, 119, 123 media imperialism, 21, 123 Sung, 38, 40, 123 media products, 9, 16, 19, 20, 23, 27, 34, 35, 105 supernatural, 15 Minkov, 31, 120 taste, 13, 35, 39, 45, 76, 87, 98, 100, 110, 113, 114 Mitchell, 53, 54, 58, 60, 62, 118 Taylor, 55, 56, 121, 123 Modern Technology, 45, 88, 92, 110 television, 11, 14, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 35, 119, 123 modernity, 20, 22, 38, 39, 45, 81, 123 Thompson, 20, 89, 119, 123 Modleski, 97, 122 Thussu, 123 Morley, 10, 66, 122 Tomlinson, 21, 123 Nelson, 20, 122 Tong, 25, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 82, 113, Nye, 23, 122 114, 121 Özalpman, 22, 122 transnational media, 19, 118 parents, 15, 37, 45, 71, 72, 73, 92, 113 transnationalism, 120 Park, 16, 28, 29, 122, 123 true love, 41, 43, 46, 93, 94 Parsons, 30, 122 typical Korean, 14, 44 perception of beauty, 89, 91 Universality, 7, 8, 37, 40, 47, 61, 80, 82, 83, 114 piggyback, 18, 83, 84 variety shows, 29, 64 plastic surgery, 36, 38, 45 Volek, 14, 123 product, 10, 17, 18, 38, 44 western value, 37, 45 protagonist, 15, 17, 18, 36, 38, 41, 43, 73, 89, 92, 93, 97, Williams, 101, 110, 123 112 Xu, 85, 123

127

XI. APPENDIX

Standardized Questionnaire

128