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Summary:

"Anyone genuinely curious about what makes South Korean pop culture tick should look no further than Gangnam. Celebrated in a song by an unlikely K-pop superstar named Psy in 2012, Gangnam is the epicenter of Hallyu, the Korean Wave. It is an exclusive zone of privilege and wealth that has lured pop culture industries since the 1980s and fueled the aspirations of Seoul's middle class, producing in its wake the "dialectical images" of the modern city described by Walter Benjamin: sweet dreams and nightmares, visions of heaven and hell, scenes of spectacular rises and great falls. In Polarizing Dreams, Pil Ho Kim presents South Korea's Gangman-style urban development as a unique case of cultural globalization in the age of social polarization. Unlike previous genre- or industry-focused publications on Hallyu, Polarizing Dreams mobilizes sources that may be unknown to many K-pop fans-dissident poetry and protest songs from the 1980s, B-rated adult films, tour bus disco music, obscure early works by famous authors and filmmakers, interviews with sex workers and urban entrepreneurs-to weave together Gangnam's rich backstory and give readers a deeper appreciation of such acclaimed films as Bong Joon Ho's Parasite and Lee Chang-dong's Burning and the Netflix drama series Squid Game. Kim takes an unflinching look at the darker side of Korean society that includes school bullying, entertainment industry scandals, and misogynistic violence, all of which have provided compelling narratives for an increasing number of Hallyu media products. The Gangnam portrayed in this volume is the site of rampant disaster capitalism and rising inequality as well as the engine of cultural and technological innovation. In short, Gangnam is at the heart of Korea's global-polarization. As one of a handful of books on Korean cultural history that bridges the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries, Polarizing Dreams will have a lasting impact on the study of Korean pop culture and beyond"-- [Provided by publisher]

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Gangnam, the phantasmagoria of Korean capitalism
• Boomtown songs on the south of the river: the origins of "Gangnam style"
• Paradise across the river: Gangnam in literature
• Two lakes in Chamsil: ecology, class, disaster
• Solidarity amid disaster capitalism: the Sampoong collapse
• Place maketh man: Gangnam as the locus of social evil
• Gentrification beyond the American dream: the transformation of tree-lined, in-between streets
• Conclusion: burning down the house or reaching across the river.

Author/Creator:

Kim, Pil Ho , author

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

Polarizing dreams: Gangnam and popular culture in globalizing Korea [by Kim, P.H.]

Other Related Resources:

Print version: Polarizing dreams [by Kim, P.H.] (Honolulu : University of Hawaiʻi Press, [2024] — ISBN 9780824899851; LCCN 2024012371)

Related Series:

Asia pop!

Subjects:

Popular culture and globalization — Korea (South) — History — 21st century

Equality — Korea (South) — Seoul

Popular culture — Effect of technological innovations on — Korea (South) — Seoul

Kangnam-gu (Seoul, Korea) — In popular culture

General Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on November 27, 2024).

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Call Numbers:

DS925.S46 K366 2025eb

ISBNs:

9780824899868 (electronic book)
0824899865 (electronic book)
9780824899875 (electronic book)
0824899873 (electronic book)
9780824899851 (hardcover) [Invalid]
9780824897512 (paperback) [Invalid]

Library of Congress Control Numbers:

2024012372

OCLC Numbers:

1429144809

Other Control Numbers:

EBC31255436 (source: MiAaPQ)
[Unknown Type]: ybp21172990