Korean TV Dramas in Taiwan: With an Emphasis on the Localization Process

The Korean pop culture wave refers to the rapid spread of Korean pop culture throughout Asia in the popularity of Korean dramas, dance music, films, animation and games. Due to the desires of the Korean society carried in the Korean pop culture wave, most research on the theme in Korea has had a tendency to emphasize the universal superiority of Korean culture or the economic effect of the phenomenon based on economism. This paper aims to provide a detailed empirical case on the concrete processes of distribution, circulation, and consumption of Korean pop culture in Taiwan using the specific case of Korean TV dramas. Taiwan has been one of the biggest importer of Korean dramas. The images delivered through the Korean TV dramas have very much influenced the Taiwanese to view contemporary Korean society as a country of modern and urban elegance, and woman-centeredness. This article also stresses that fact that the popularity of the Korean drama can be understood in the context of the specific reprocessing and consumption system in Taiwan to reduce the high economic risk of the business. One way of adapting that has been developed to maximize profits and minimize the risks of the cultural industry is the accompaniment of various localization processes. The localization process sometimes entails the hybridity of the Korean dramas text as well.

keywords: globalization, Korean pop culture wave, Korean TV dramas, Taiwan, localization, cultural industry, gender, trendy dramas, fans, hybridity, globalization, Korean pop culture wave, Korean TV dramas, Taiwan, localization, cultural industry, gender, trendy dramas, fans, hybridity

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Article Contents

Vol.45 No.4

Korean TV Dramas in Taiwan: With an Emphasis on the Localization Process

Abstract

Reference

Korea Journal