ABSTRACT
The nineteenth-century French dramatist Alfred de Musset once remarked, “Great artists have no country.” He was correct. The definitive explanation of K-pop videos and songs moving from Korean-based entertainment companies to social media discourse created by people in Indonesia, Israel, and Idaho can now be seen. But how did a country like South Korea, ravaged by colonialism, a brutal internecine war, and decades of authoritarian rule, produce the cultural products that have since come to dominate international hearts and minds? With Korean entertainment companies creating an ever-growing collection of hybrid and glocalized products so as to appeal to as much of the international consumer market as possible and by freeing the text from any cultural references, the text becomes available to everyone and directed at no-one. Because K-pop has no message, it has every message: a moving breathing Rorschach test. K-pop supports sexual fluidity as well as established gender norms and hierarchy. It supports the working class and multinational elite corporations; traditional values and progressive sensibilities; Korean culture and cosmopolitanism. This chapter seeks to deconstruct what is actually taking place and what it means vis-à-vis the identity and desires of the fans involved.
