Sim, Kim, & Lee / K-Pop Strategy Seen from the Viewpoint of Cultural Hybridity 292
Kritika Kultura 29 (2017): –317 © Ateneo de Manila University
<http://journals.ateneo.edu/ojs/kk/>
Abstract
Hallyu (the Korean wave) is an intriguing phenomenon originating from Korea and refers to
the current impact of products of South Korean popular culture (especially for music, K-pop).
K-pop, a representative product of the Korean Wave, is a multi-layered formation that is
composed of hybrid cultural practices and a diverse range of lived experiences. Nowadays,
much social and academic attention is being paid to the reason for the success of K-pop. his
study deals with how the Korean traditional gwangdae (scaramouche or clown) culture has been
passed down to develop into K-pop. For this, diachronic perspectives are applied to analyze
the formation and development of gwangdae culture and K-pop; and the cultural hybridity
theories are used in explaining the succession of gwangdae spirit to K-pop culture. As a result,
this study examines how and what kinds of changes and innovations Korean gwangdae culture
has gone through to accumulate, pass down and develop the gwangdae’s artistic and cultural
capabilities, living up to the demands of the times, since earlier times. hus, this study tries to
understand the meaning through traditional interpretation and relections on K-pop and also
makes speciic policy recommendations to accompany the analysis. In particular, we tried to
present the direction of the new K-pop strategy based on the gwangdae spirit.
Keywords
Cultural Hybridity, Diachronic, Gwangdae Spirit, Hallyu, K-pop, New K-pop Gwangdae
Strategy
K-POP STRATEGY SEEN FROM THE
VIEWPOINT OF CULTURAL HYBRIDITY
AND THE TRADITION OF THE GWANGDAE
Hee-chul Sim
Dong-ah Institute of Media and Art
simba3626@naver.com
Soel-ah Kim
Konkuk University
soelah@gmail.com
Byung-min Lee
Konkuk University
yuriin@konkuk.ac.kr