Diasporic Hallyu

This open access book examines the lived experiences of diasporic Korean youth in light of the transnational flows of South Korean popular culture, known as the Korean Wave, or Hallyu. Drawing on an ethnographic study of Korean Canadian youth and their engagement with the Korean Wave, the book proposes a critical understanding of the interactions between diasporic youth audiences and popular culture. By examining the Korean Wave as diasporic cultural practices rather than the diffusion of national cultural products, the book reveals the diversified ways in which cultural flows are negotiated by audiences who take up relatively ambivalent reception positions between two or more national and cultural contexts. This book expands the scope of transnational audience studies and youth cultural studies by focusing attention on the diasporic media practices of young people.

“Yoon focuses entirely on an understudied aspect, namely the diasporic lens, combining ethnographic methodology as well as cultural, historiographic, postcolonial, and (social) media studies. His ethnographic methodology is a needed and refreshing way to avoid the triumphalist attitude that the Korean Wave is a dominant force that is unmatched by any other ‘national’ cultural exports or on the contrary, that it is a fleeting trend, lest we consider two decades ephemeral. … Yoon adds his contribution with the Canadian case of the Korean diaspora reception and reflection.” (Moisés Park, Asian Communication Research, Vol. 20 (1), April, 2023)“Diasporic Hallyu: The Korean Wave in Korean Canadian Youth Culture is contemporary and informative enough to investigate the interactive relationships between diaspora and popular culture and further is conducive to having critical knowledge of scattered audiences. … the book will make a significant contribution to the growing literature in global popular culture.” (Lei Li, Critical Arts, December 15, 2022)

Kyong Yoon is Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, Canada. He has published widely on digital media, South Korean popular culture, migration, and youth culture. He is the author of Digital Mediascapes of Transnational Korean Youth Culture (2020) and a co-author of Transnational Hallyu: The Globalization of Korean Digital and Popular Culture (2021).