Becoming Korean: K-pop idol culture and the rise of soft power in Iran

成为韩国人：韩国流行偶像文化与伊朗软实力的崛起

• 批准号: 2876443
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2876443
• 关键词: Becoming; Korean; pop; idol; culture

This study examines practices of K-pop music listening among Iranian fans and the emergence of Iranian fandom in a globalized context at the intersection of global Islam and Korean soft power. I propose that Iranian fans of K-pop constitute a new counter-public in Iran today, one that focuses on listening, analysis, comparison, and knowledge production, which generates methods of expression among fans.The post 1979 revolutionary Iranian government gender segregates and monitors public spaces. Surveillance occurs through the politicisation and control of art, music, women, Gen-Z/teenagers and social activities. However, the government permits certain media, including Korean popular culture. At South Korean funded Sejong Institutes, for instance, Iranian women gather to study the Korean language and consume Korean media. Ensuing discussions compare K-pop with other popular music in Iran. Contrary to common understandings of K-pop as simply derived from Western models, these listeners find linkages with Iranian, Turkish and Arab popular music.These discussions continue in online spaces that fall betwixt-and-between government surveillance. Although the government blocks most social media platforms, the Iranian counter-public uses filterbreakers to access these platforms to connect with each other and worldwide communities of K-pop fans. Placing Iran within flows of global popular culture that sits entirely outside of the West, cultivates new forms of expression that do not depend on Western influence-a stance that enables safety in a location where the West is deemed an enemy.Extant scholarship on K-pop primarily focuses on the organisation of K-pop industry (Shin 2009; Lei 2012; Park 2013; Fuhr 2017), the spread of Korean cultural products (Oh 2014; Yoon 2017), and connections to Western models (Jung 2006; Fuhr 2017). Fandom studies examine East Asia and the West, focusing on cultural hybridity (Yoon 2017) and the social identities of fans (Keshin-Binark 2021). This project examines the growth of K-pop within the Iranian society for which no scholarship exists, and also offers innovative conclusions about the listening and analytical practices of K-pop in the making of a vibrant counter-public both online and offline. In the spirit of decolonising scholarship and decentring Western ideas, this project places global Korea and the agency of young Iranian women at its centre.Research questionsHow do Iranian counterpublics emerge through K-pop listening practices? How do practices of taste emerge from K-pop listening and how identities are reshaped in new taste groups?How might the case of Iranian listening practices offer novel insights into Korean popular music and movie studies away from a Euro American centred focus? How might analysis in social media settings build new fan bases?MethodologyThe project utilizes virtual ethnography to study fan communities. I will track Instagram and Telegram particularly, due to popularity with Iranian fans. I will engage with Iranian websites and forums providing Korean media. If safe, I will undertake several weeks of fieldwork in Tehran and Isfahan to visit Korean language institutes where K-pop fans meet. I will study the musical intersection between Iranian and Kpop music and understand how Iranian audiences hear familiarity in K-pop.

本研究考察了伊朗粉丝听K-pop音乐的做法，以及在全球伊斯兰教和韩国软实力交汇的全球化背景下，伊朗粉丝圈的出现。我认为伊朗的K-pop粉丝在今天的伊朗构成了一个新的反大众，一个专注于倾听、分析、比较和知识生产的人，这产生了粉丝之间的表达方式。1979年革命后的伊朗政府对公共场所实行性别隔离和监控。监视是通过对艺术、音乐、女性、z世代/青少年和社会活动的政治化和控制来实现的。但是，政府允许包括韩国大众文化在内的某些媒体进入。例如，在韩国资助的世宗研究所（Sejong Institutes），伊朗妇女聚集在一起学习韩语，消费韩国媒体。随后的讨论将韩国流行音乐与伊朗其他流行音乐进行了比较。这些听众发现韩国流行音乐与伊朗、土耳其和阿拉伯流行音乐的联系，而不是简单地从西方模式衍生而来的普遍理解。这些讨论在处于政府监控之间的网络空间中继续进行。虽然政府封锁了大多数社交媒体平台，但伊朗反公众使用过滤器来访问这些平台，以便彼此联系，并与全球的K-pop粉丝社区联系。将伊朗置于完全不受西方影响的全球流行文化之中，培养不依赖于西方影响的新表达形式——这一立场在一个被西方视为敌人的地方提供了安全。关于K-pop的现有学术研究主要集中在K-pop产业的组织（Shin 2009; Lei 2012; Park 2013; Fuhr 2017），韩国文化产品的传播（Oh 2014; Yoon 2017）以及与西方模式的联系（Jung 2006; Fuhr 2017）。粉丝圈研究考察了东亚和西方，重点关注文化混杂性（Yoon 2017）和粉丝的社会身份（kesshin - binark 2021）。本计画检视韩国流行音乐在伊朗社会的成长，但伊朗社会并无相关学术研究，同时也提供创新结论，探讨韩国流行音乐的聆听与分析实践，如何在线上与线下创造充满活力的反大众。本着非殖民化学术和分散西方思想的精神，该项目将全球朝鲜和伊朗年轻妇女机构置于其中心。研究问题：伊朗的反公众是如何通过听韩国流行音乐而出现的？品味的实践是如何从韩国流行音乐中产生的？在新的品味群体中，身份是如何重塑的？伊朗人的听力练习如何能让我们对以欧美为中心的韩国流行音乐和电影研究有新的见解？社交媒体环境下的分析如何建立新的粉丝基础？该项目利用虚拟人种学来研究粉丝社区。我会特别关注Instagram和Telegram，因为它们在伊朗粉丝中很受欢迎。我将与提供韩国媒体的伊朗网站和论坛进行接触。”如果安全的话，我将在德黑兰和伊斯法罕进行几周的实地考察，参观韩国流行音乐粉丝聚会的韩国语学院。我将研究伊朗和韩国流行音乐之间的音乐交集，并了解伊朗观众是如何对韩国流行音乐感到熟悉的。