NCTA Workshop: What Makes K-pop? The Importance of K-pop Fandom

What is K-pop? This is a simple yet complicated question as K-pop musically, racially, and nationally variegated. In the conventional sense of the term, K-pop refers to an ethno-national musical genre: dance-pop songs with Korean lyrics performed by predominantly ethnic Korean musicians. However, many cases challenge this simple definition. In this talk, Lee examines how the meaning of “K” in “K-pop” is (re)interpreted by individuals, how K-pop resounds beyond Koreanness, and eventually what elements constitute the K-pop phenomenon today. Among many elements, Lee particularly focuses on the distinctive fan culture in K-pop. Examining several examples, Lee explains why and how fans’ participation is crucial in making the sonic and visual environment of K-pop performance and its sociocultural identity.

Wonseok Lee is a cultural musicologist whose research interests include Korean popular music and culture, globalization, transnationalism, musical identity, media studies, border theory, and posthumanism in music. Lee is a currently postdoctoral associate at the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale, where he works on a book project that examines how K-pop challenges traditional boundaries, including that K-pop should be performed by Koreans and that K-pop idols must be human. Lee received his PhD in Musicology (with emphasis on ethnomusicology) from The Ohio State University.

Free and Open to the Public