Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Communication Theses Department of Communication 5-10-2014 Global Audience Participation in the Production and Consumption of Gangnam Style Soo keung Jung Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses Recommended Citation Jung, Soo keung, "Global Audience Participation in the Production and Consumption of Gangnam Style." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2014. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses/106 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GLOBAL AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION IN THE PRUDUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF GANGNAM STYLE by SOOKEUNG JUNG Under the Direction of Professor Hongmei Li ABSTRACT This thesis examines the cultural consumption of the Korean music video Gangnam Style in the broader context of the increasing popularity of Korean popular content, often called the Korean Wave, and of complex conditions of transnational consumption. Specifically, it in- vestigates why the music video Gangnam Style gained popularity not only in East Asia but also over the world, how it is circulated, and what conditions contribute to its success. It focuses on the role of the networked audiences and the interactions between the networked audiences and mainstream media through a chronological analysis on the distribution and reproduction process of Gangnam Style on YouTube. Through the case study of Gangman Style, this thesis attempts to rethink the established globalization theories and to suggest new perspective of cultural circula- tion in the globalized and digitalized media environment. INDEX WORDS: K-pop, Gangnam Style, YouTube, Audience, Participation, Global circulation GLOBAL AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION IN THE PRUDUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF GANGNAM STYLE by SOOKEUNG JUNG A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2014 Copyright by Sookeung Jung 2014 GLOBAL AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION IN THE PRUDUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF GANGNAM STYLE by SOOKEUNG JUNG Committee Chair: Hongmei Li Committee: Hongmei Li Leonard R. Teel Sharon Shahaf Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University May 2014 iv DEDICATION Dedicated to my love Kihun, Beom and Dan, and my first step to academia. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis could not have been written without the guidance and support of my adviser, Dr. Hongmei Li, who gave me confidence that my project is worthwhile and never ceased to be encouraging. While I have met a number of fine scholars and teachers in my life, it is a rare op- portunity to meet such an excellent professor. She is the model of a passionate scholar, dedicated teacher, thoughtful adviser and hard-working organizer. I am also deeply grateful for my disser- tation committee, Dr. Leonard R. Teel, whose feedbacks were as keen as his heart is generous, and Dr. Sharon Shahaf, who greatly inspired me with her expertise. Throughout my days at GSU, I have benefited from the advice and encouragement of many professors, friends and staffs. I want to express my thanks to Dr. Greg Smith, who first advised me to approach to this topic from more academic perspectives. And, I am deeply grateful to Dr. Carrie Packwood Freeman for her heartfelt support and advice on improvement of my re- search skills. Her responsible life and attitude of community has been truly impressive to me. Sejung Park, Amber Welch, and Chung Chen have my thanks and affection for the friendship, encouragement, and academic discussion. I am also grateful to Ms. Tawanna Tookes, and Ms. Diane Sealey at Department of Communication Office for their support from the beginning to the end of my master’s degree program. In addition, I would like to express my profound gratitude and deep regard to Meredith Samb, for proofreading all my drafts. Without her full support and advice, I couldn’t have done so much paper work. I am forever indebted to Dr. Jinsun Lee, my professional as well as academic mentor, who has inspired me with her startling admonition and resounding cheer, thereby leading me to this point. The same goes to Dr. Siho Nam and Dr. Kishu Beom, my senior colleagues at Sung- vi kyunkwan University, for guiding me to the academic world. They helped me to achieve my longtime dream of getting education at age forty. I cannot thank enough my family for their support, patience, and love. My profound gra- titude goes to my mother Dosija Ahn, who has given me unchanging love and support and my father Kwondae Jung, who has shown an unwavering confidence in me and always respects my decisions in life. I am thankful to my mother-in-law Kyeongsoon Lee, who has given me support and encouragement. Also special thank goes to my sister, Hiyoung Jung for her dedication to my family. While studying English at GSU language institute, she has taken good care of my family and myself. My thoughtful son, Beom Kim has fully understood his busy student mom and re- lieved me with a cup of coffee he made. My lovely daughter, Dan Kim has also made me happy and helped me smile. Finally, I should give gigantic thanks to my husband, Kihun Kim, for all his patience, help when I needed it, and companionship throughout the years. As a PhD candi- date in Economics, he helped me keep on track with his experienced advice and academic know- ledge. He deserves my earnest thanks. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................1 1.1 Theoretical Background of the Study .............................................................2 1.2 Significance of the Study .................................................................................6 1.3 Outline of the Study .........................................................................................8 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................9 2.1 Transnational Media Flow ............................................................................ 10 2.2 Transnational Consumption of Audience ..................................................... 15 2.3 The Networked Audience and New Trend of Cultural Flow ....................... 17 2.4 The Circuit of Culture: Interconnection of Cultural Meaning and Values. 19 3 A DYNAMIC CULTURAL PHENOMENON, THE K-POP............................. 23 3.1 The History of the K-pop .............................................................................. 23 3.2 Cultural Distinctions and Global Competitiveness of K-pop ....................... 25 3.3 K-pop Leads Neo-Korean Wave ................................................................... 27 3.4 The Global Reception of Gangnam Style ...................................................... 31 4 RESEARCH METHODS .................................................................................... 38 5 DISSEMINATION PROCESS OF GANGNAM STYLE .................................. 40 5.1 Dissemination Trend of Gangnam Style in the First 100 days ..................... 40 5.2 Classification of the Sampled Gangnam Style Videos on YouTube ............. 42 5.3 The Time-Periodic Characteristics of Dissemination of Gangnam Style ..... 47 viii 5.3.1 The first stage (July 11~July 29) ................................................................ 47 5.3.2 The second stage (July 30 ~August 21) ...................................................... 51 5.3.3 The third stage (August 22 ~ September 26) ............................................... 54 5.3.4 The fourth stage (September 28~ ).............................................................. 57 6 DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION: TRANSNATIONAL AUDIECNE PARTICIPATION IN GLOBALIZATION OF K-POP ........................................................ 58 6.1 Collaboration of Fans, Celebrities, and Mainstream Media ........................ 59 6.2 Gangnam Style on YouTube, Conjunction of New Media and Old Media .. 61 6.3 From Translationto Parody, Cultural Hybridity and Spreadability of Gangnam Style ..................................................................................................................... 63 6.4 Limitation and Future Research ................................................................... 66 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 69 Primary Sources ....................................................................................................... 69 Secondary Sources ................................................................................................... 72 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. 80 Appendix A: The transcript of Gangnam Style ....................................................... 80 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 5.1 The major events in disseminating Gangnam Style in the first 100 days ....... 41 Table 5.2 The list of video clips uploaded by PSY’s official YouTube account ............ 43 Table 5.3 The list of the video clips uploaded by mainstream media and the hosts ....... 44 Table 5.4 Categories of the user-generated videos