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A review by champagnejayme
The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture by Euny Hong
5.0
First, watch this: http://youtu.be/mVE96w_cl_w
The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture by Euny Hong.
If you own a Samsung phone or television, have listened to a K-pop song or watched a K-drama, you may have wondered how it is that South Korea has crept up on Japan as the go-to Asian nation for our electronics and pop culture. As recently as 1965, South Korea’s GDP was less than that of Ghana. Today, South Korea is the world’s fifteenth largest economy and has the fastest Internet connections of any nation. Clever and engaging, "The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture” attempts to explain South Korea’s rapid journey from impoverished nation to the economic powerhouse it is today.
Author Euny Hong was born in America but returned with her family to her parents’ native South Korea at age twelve, giving her a unique understanding of the culture as both a citizen and a foreigner. She writes with humor and candor about growing up in South Korea during the 80s (when it was very much not cool): her shock at learning that their toilets were the squatting kind, eating cookies made out of caramelized sugar and baking soda, experiencing mandatory school thrashings, and other delightful discoveries.
Interesting and well-researched, the book is informative without being dry or boring. Hong interviews people in various aspects of South Korean government and society, such as the director of Popular Culture Industry Division and education officials as well as a boy band member and a South Korean American adoptee.
The only drawback to the author’s snappy writing style is the lightweight treatment of a few topics that warrant a deeper investigation. For example, South Korea has the world’s highest rate of plastic surgery, but this fascinating national preoccupation and its causes are only briefly discussed. This is a quick read, so do not go in expecting an in-depth, scholarly take on South Korean history and modern development.
“The Birth of Korean Cool” is a very readable, witty look at contemporary Korea with the personal feel of a memoir, and it is recommended for anyone with an interest in Korean culture.
The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture by Euny Hong.
If you own a Samsung phone or television, have listened to a K-pop song or watched a K-drama, you may have wondered how it is that South Korea has crept up on Japan as the go-to Asian nation for our electronics and pop culture. As recently as 1965, South Korea’s GDP was less than that of Ghana. Today, South Korea is the world’s fifteenth largest economy and has the fastest Internet connections of any nation. Clever and engaging, "The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture” attempts to explain South Korea’s rapid journey from impoverished nation to the economic powerhouse it is today.
Author Euny Hong was born in America but returned with her family to her parents’ native South Korea at age twelve, giving her a unique understanding of the culture as both a citizen and a foreigner. She writes with humor and candor about growing up in South Korea during the 80s (when it was very much not cool): her shock at learning that their toilets were the squatting kind, eating cookies made out of caramelized sugar and baking soda, experiencing mandatory school thrashings, and other delightful discoveries.
Interesting and well-researched, the book is informative without being dry or boring. Hong interviews people in various aspects of South Korean government and society, such as the director of Popular Culture Industry Division and education officials as well as a boy band member and a South Korean American adoptee.
The only drawback to the author’s snappy writing style is the lightweight treatment of a few topics that warrant a deeper investigation. For example, South Korea has the world’s highest rate of plastic surgery, but this fascinating national preoccupation and its causes are only briefly discussed. This is a quick read, so do not go in expecting an in-depth, scholarly take on South Korean history and modern development.
“The Birth of Korean Cool” is a very readable, witty look at contemporary Korea with the personal feel of a memoir, and it is recommended for anyone with an interest in Korean culture.