In the COVID era, audiences have been isolated by border closures and fear of infection has been manifesting in an old form of prejudice—discrimination and xenophobia. But against these odds, Korean dramas have been spreading empathy and a sense of global community. The ongoing popularity of Crash Landing on You, Japan’s most watched Netflix series in 2020, challenges anti-Korean sentiments. Squid Game, Netflix’s most watched show of all time in the first month after its release, undermined Western cultural elitism. Streaming services are competing to secure Korean content for the global market. The genres and themes vary, and the audience is diverse. But what these works have in common are melodramatic social criticism and a strong sense of poetic justice. This lecture will explore the ways in which satires of the social realities of Korea—in the form of “bingeworthy” TV—have resonated with audiences all over the world.

Presenter:

Prof. Dr. Hyangjin Lee

Hyangjin Lee is a Professor at the College of Intercultural Communication at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. She is the author of Korean Cinema: North KoreaSouth KoreaTransnational (2018), The Sociology of the Korean Wave: Fandom, Family and Multiculturalism (2008) and Contemporary Korean Cinema: Identity, Culture and Politics (2001), and has published journal articles and book chapters on the cinematic representation of war memories, gender, sexuality and transnationalism, and the Korean Wave. Professor Lee taughtin the School of East Asian Studies at the University of Sheffield and was the 2014 Kim Koo Visiting Professor of Korean Studies at Harvard University. She is currently a global faculty professor at Free University of Berlin.

Hybrid event

Time:

Tuesday, 3rd May 2022

4:15-6:00 PM

Venue:

Webex (online)

and

Institute of Korean Studies
Otto-von-Simson-Straße 11
14195 Berlin

Please register in advance

Online registration:

https://fu-berlin.webex.com/fu-berlin/j.php?RGID=r672f866be1792a375d4d08c8bdca56a6

Offline registration:

Please contact: g.domning@fu-berlin.de

Only 20 seats available.

The wearing of a face mask is mandatory.