The course introduces students to the actual situation of contemporary East Asian popular culture by looking at its history, development, regional and global influences. It also offers students the theoretical basis of popular culture studies by introducing the concepts of culture, cultural industry, intercultural representation, globalization etc. The main focus of the course is directed at East Asian country case studies that cover discussions on music, cinema, fashion, literature, lifestyle and other aspects of popular culture in China, Korea and Japan. During this course the students will acquire knowledge of the most important issues regarding contemporary East Asian popular culture, as well as necessary skills to approach and analyze these issues critically.
Course assignments and evaluation
Opinion papers; 30%
Midterm exam; 30%
Final exam; 40%
Opinion paper
Each student has to write three short opinion papers on individually selected topics: one for China, one for Korea and one for Japan. Each paper has to answer one specific question of student’s choice. The
question must start with “why” or “in what way”. For example: “Why there are so many idol music bands in Korea?”, “In what way Japanese cinema has been influenced by Hollywood?” or “Why Taiwanese people like Hello Kitty so much?” If you are not sure what question to choose or whether your question is suitable for the assignment, please consult one of the lecturers. The deadline for each paper is written below.
Length of the paper: 800-900 words. Too short or too long papers will receive a lower grade.
Seminars
Each lecture will be followed by seminar time during which students will have to discuss certain topics, reflect on readings or movies they watched. Details about each seminar will be announced on the Moodle site.
Literature
The course is not based on one specific textbook. Selected mandatory readings (book chapters and academic articles) will be uploaded to the Moodle site and assigned to each class.
Courses
1. Definitions of culture. Definitions of popular culture. Introduction to cultural theories (part I): mass society theory, the Frankfurt School, structuralism, semiology.
2. Introduction to cultural theories (part II): theories of gender, postmodernism, globalization
3. Popular culture in Korea: bringing the traditional culture to the present.
4. Popular culture in Korea: changes of mass culture between state and society
5. Popular culture in Korea: The Korean Wave (“Hallyu”) in and out
6. Popular culture in Korea: K-culture to be continued?
7. Popular culture in Japan: the phenomenon of kawaii and Japanese pop culture
8. Popular culture in Japan: Japanese popular literature and animation (anime)
9. Popular culture in Japan: Japanese popular music and the culture of karaoke
10.Popular culture in Japan: Japanese pop culture in global arena
11.Popular culture in China: East Asian pop culture and the trajectory of Asian consumption
12.Popular culture in China: origins and tendencies
13.Popular culture in China: the Americanization of pop culture in Asia
14.Popular culture in China: Games. Skinheads