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omonatheydidK-pop fashion, changing character roles and new plots have broadened viewership
A group of fashion savvy young stars who are part of the Korean Wave have long been popular in Asia, but according to new research by a Korean-French scholar, they are beginning to take France by storm as well.
K-pop is now as widespread as a virus, bordering on an outbreak, and it’s reaching new parts of the world at a rapid rate, Hong Suk-kyung, a professor at the University of Bordeaux’s School of Journalism, said in a paper, “Understanding the East Asian Heat Wave in Western Europe,” she delivered at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, or BEXCO, earlier this week.
K-pop singers have especially been praised for their ability to double as entertainers, appealing to fans of all ages, Hong said. Yet it is also the fashion of Korean celebrities that is likely to spark a new cultural trend, she said.
Hong also said that Korean music is more popular than ever in France. “Boy and girl bands from the West are less popular, and now it is K-pop’s turn to fill the gap,” she said.
In television, a shift in viewership has brought a broader audience to K-pop.
Until a few years ago, the main audience for Korean dramas was women between the ages of 25 and 40, but they have been surpassed by frenzied adolescent fans of K-pop singers who watch their favorite singers in the raft of dramas that now feature them in leading roles.
The change in the roles of the characters in Korean dramas is another element in their growing popularity. The stereotypical Asian male as a skilled martial arts master who fails to charm the girl is now a thing of the past. In his place is a charismatic generation of muscular singers with flashy dance moves.
Plots have also changed to encompass trendier themes. The romanticism of the “shy love story” is no more and Korean dramas now follow Western pop-culture trends, attracting a boom of female viewers.
Manga, or Japanese anime, has acted as a vast resource for Korean dramas, leading manga fans to become Korean drama addicts.
The growing number of Web sites devoted to Korean popular culture serves as a testament to K-pop’s rise in France, Hong said.
The site “K-pop France” was launched as a blog in 2004 and now has an average of 500,000 visitors per month. Specializing in K-pop music trends, the site acts as a database and presents up-to-date K-pop news in French. Hong noted that the site is updated at almost the same time as celebrity news in Korea comes out.
It is just one of a growing number of sites from around the world dedicated to K-pop.
“Allkpop” offers up-to-date K-pop news and has an average of 3 million visitors per month. As of April, its Facebook fan page had 580,000 members. “K-pop FM” is a Web site that doubles as a radio station and features songs from Korean music companies such as SM and YG Entertainment. “Dramabeans,” centered on Korean drama, is said to have 700 to 800 viewers per video on average.
Hong also reported that Korean dramas are being translated into around 15 languages via 20 different Korean drama and K-pop music file-sharing sites based in Europe.
In just three days after the broadcast of an episode of the popular drama “Boys over Flowers,” subtitles in more than 20 different languages had already been produced.
And “WithS2,” a Korean drama-oriented site that allows downloads of “fansubs,” or subtitles uploaded by fans, has around 270 active translators.
Source: Yang Sung-hee @ Korea JoongAng Daily
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Date: 2011-05-19 05:45 pm (UTC)This news doesn't surprise me, while Kpop is no where close to being mainstream, it's enough of a sub-culture for concerts to be held, in countries outside of Asia which therefore shows, that it is popular enough to bring in the money.
Personally I'm pleased with this, because I don't really care about second-hand embarrassment or whether or not lots of people like them/make fun of me because of it, as long as I get to see them. I know however that there are people who would properly kneel over, if someone ever found out they listened to Korean music. * shrug* each to their own I suppose.
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Date: 2011-05-19 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-05-19 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-20 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-20 02:42 am (UTC)he be likin them boybands like no tomorrow.
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Date: 2011-05-20 03:14 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-05-20 07:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 02:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-19 06:28 pm (UTC)I would take this "KPOP storm/virus" term with a gain of salt.
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Date: 2011-05-19 06:53 pm (UTC)C'est un coréen qui a écrit cet article, doit-on se rappeler... ils vont bien sûr être biaisés...
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It's probably just that they're excited that SM Town is heading to France and that they sold the concert tickets so quickly, so they think EVERYONE (read: the entire COUNTRY!) listens to kpop, lol.
A Korean wrote this article, lest we forget... They're bound to be biased...
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Date: 2011-05-20 03:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-20 01:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-20 01:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-19 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-19 06:54 pm (UTC)Now follow Western pop-culture trends? Uh... lack of front-and-center sexual/sensual subject matter notwithstanding, among other things, lol
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Date: 2011-05-19 06:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-19 07:04 pm (UTC)Oh that's cool, now I fancy bloody Pikachu -__-.
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Date: 2011-05-19 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-19 07:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-19 07:42 pm (UTC)just like how korean media exaggerates the success the wonder girls have achieved in the states.
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Date: 2011-05-20 03:23 am (UTC)This is new to me!!
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Date: 2011-05-19 09:52 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-05-19 09:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-19 09:48 pm (UTC)So: yg family/big bang concert instead of smtown, please?
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Date: 2011-05-19 10:27 pm (UTC)♥
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Date: 2011-05-20 08:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-19 10:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-20 08:25 am (UTC)Ah thanks i didn't see the male one! YG owns here, they have a larger audience...
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