Description
Book SynopsisFocusing on female idols' proliferation in the South Korean popular music (K-pop) industry since the late 1990s, Gooyong Kim critically analyzes structural conditions of possibilities in contemporary popular music from production to consumption. Kim contextualizes the success of K-pop within Korea's development trajectories, scrutinizing how a formula of developments from the country' rapid industrial modernization (1960s-1980s) was updated and re-applied in the K-pop industry when the state had to implement a series of neoliberal reformations mandated by the IMF. To that end, applying Michel Foucault's discussion on governmentality, a biopolitical dimension of neoliberalism, Kim argues how the regime of free market capitalism updates and reproduces itself by 1) forming a strategic alliance of interests with the state, and 2) using popular culture to facilitate individuals' subjectification and subjectivation processes to become neoliberal agents. As to an importance of K-pop female id
Trade ReviewGooyong Kim has written a bracing book on K-pop girl groups. From Factory Girls to K-pop Idol Girls is replete with insights and information not only about K-pop, but also about South Korean economy, society, culture, and psychology. No one interested in a serious study of K-pop should ignore it. -- John Lie, University of California, Berkeley
With the recent global popularity of K-pop, much has been written about K-pop. Unlike previous works focusing on a micro-scopic and celebratory manner, From Factory Girls to K-pop Idol Girls places K-pop in the wider socio-economic context. It is timely and a landmark study of K-pop. It will be of interest to scholars and students who are eager to read more about critical music studies and cultural industries. -- Dal Yong Jin, Professor, School of Communication, Simon Fraser University
Table of ContentsForeword by Douglas Kellner
Introduction
Chapter 1: Popular Culture as A Strategic Field of Neoliberal Intervention: Developmentalism, Neoliberal Social Policy, and Governmentality in Post-IMF Korean Popular Music Industry
Chapter 2: K-pop Idol Girl Groups as Cultural Genre of Neoliberalism: Patriarchy, Developmentalism, and Structure of Feeling/ Experience in K-pop
Chapter 3: Between Hybridity and Hegemony in K-Pop’s Global Popularity: A Case of Girls’ Generation’s American Debut
Chapter 4: Genealogy and Affective Economy of K-pop Female Idols: From Cute and Innocent to Ambiguous Femininity, to Explicit Sexualization
Chapter 5: Elusive Subjectivity of K-pop Female Idols: Split-personality, Narcissism, and Neo-Confucian Body Techniques in Suzy of MissA
Chapter 6: Resilience, Positive Psychology, and Subjectivity in K-pop Female Idols: Evolution of Girls’ Generation from “Into the New World” (2007) to “All Night” (2017)
Chapter 7: The 90s, the Most Stunning Days of Our Lives: Cultural Politics of Retro K-pop Music, Nostalgia, and Positive Psychology in Contemporary Korea
Conclusion
