As part of a 2-day conference on Cultural Borders and Bridges: Europe and Asia, sponsored by the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University, on Friday afternoon November 4th there will be a 4-paper panel focussing on Korean consumer/popular culture, specifically the popularity of the KBS TV drama Kyoul Yonga in Japan.  The keynote address by Kang Myung-koo on consumer culture and modernity will be complemented by Hayashi Kaori's paper on the gendered construction of the Winter Sonata audience.  Full details of the conference can be found at:

http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/lcl/conferences/cultural_borders/program.html#day2

Kang Myungkoo (Department of Communication, Seoul National University) A History of Korean Consumer Culture: Formation of Disciplined Modernism

The purpose of the study is to examine a historical formation of disciplined modernism in the history of consumer culture in South Korea. Two research questions were raised: First, when did the consumer society start in South Korea? Second, how have Korean consumers experienced the compressed modernization? To answer the first question, this study examined statistical data in relations to consumer goods and materials as well as changes of consumer economy. The study found the mid-1970s was the critical period that modern consumption phenomena became prevalent among ordinary consumers. As for the second question, the study tried to look into how Korean consumers lived through the rapidly growing consumer economy, focusing on 1) formation of consumer desire, and 2) how the state intervene the private sphere of consumption for the purpose of disciplining 'good' nations. The study claimed that the negotiation between material desire and the top-down tutelage have formed "the disciplined modernism" as a typical nature of Korean consumer culture.

Hayashi Kaori (Tokyo University) The Gendered Construction of the 'Audience of Winter Sonata' and its Possible Consequences for the relations between South Korea and Japan

Alexandra Hambleton (School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University) The Korean Wave on Japanese Shores: Will Winter Sonata Bring About a Thaw in Japan-Korea Relations?

Alison Tokita (School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University) Music in Fuyu no sonata: the Piano as a Bridge to European Culture in Borderless Musical Modernity

Alison Tokita




