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

这项研究考察了伊朗歌迷收听韩国流行音乐的做法，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歌迷的出现。我建议伊朗流行音乐的粉丝在今天的伊朗构成一个新的反公众群体，一个专注于倾听、分析、比较和知识生产的群体，这在粉丝中产生了表达方式。1979年革命后的伊朗政府对公共空间进行性别隔离和监控。监视通过对艺术、音乐、妇女、Z世代/青少年和社会活动的政治化和控制进行。然而，政府允许某些媒体，包括韩国流行文化。例如，在韩国资助的世宗学院，伊朗女性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的其他流行音乐进行了比较。与人们对韩国流行音乐单纯源自西方模式的普遍理解相反，这些听众发现他们与伊朗、土耳其和阿拉伯流行音乐有联系。这些讨论在政府监控之间的在线空间继续进行。尽管政府屏蔽了大多数社交媒体平台，但伊朗的反公众使用过滤器来访问这些平台，以相互联系，并与世界各地的韩国流行歌迷社区联系。将伊朗置于完全不受西方影响的全球流行文化的流动中，培育了不依赖于西方影响的新的表达形式--这一立场使西方被视为敌人的地方能够获得安全。目前对韩国流行音乐的学术研究主要集中在韩国流行音乐产业的组织(Shin 2009；Lei 2012；Park 2013；Fuhr 2017)、韩国文化产品的传播(哦2014；Yoon 2017)以及与西方模式的联系(Jung 2006；Fuhr 2017)。粉丝研究考察了东亚和西方，重点是文化混杂(Yoon 2017)和粉丝的社会身份(Keshin-Binark 2021)。该项目考察了韩国流行音乐在没有奖学金的伊朗社会中的发展，并就韩国流行音乐在建立充满活力的线上和线下公众方面的倾听和分析做法提出了创新性的结论。本着学术去殖民化和西方思想去中心化的精神，这个项目以全球化的韩国和伊朗年轻女性的机构为中心。研究问题伊朗的对立面是如何通过韩国流行音乐的倾听实践而出现的？韩国流行音乐的品味实践是如何从韩国流行音乐中浮现出来的，以及在新的品味群体中如何重塑自己的身份？伊朗聆听实践的案例如何能够为韩国流行音乐和电影研究提供新的见解，而不是以欧美为中心？在社交媒体环境中的分析如何建立新的粉丝基础？方法该项目利用虚拟民族志来研究粉丝社区。我会特别跟踪Instagram和Telegram，因为它们在伊朗球迷中很受欢迎。我将与提供韩国媒体的伊朗网站和论坛接触。如果安全，我将在德黑兰和伊斯法罕进行为期几周的实地考察，参观韩语学院，那里是韩国流行歌迷聚会的地方。我将研究伊朗和韩国流行音乐之间的音乐交集，了解伊朗观众是如何在韩国流行音乐中听到熟悉的。

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.