Blog 7

Wen Gao

ASA 2 Section A03

10/31/2015

Response to “Korean American Youth and Transnational Flows of Popular Culture across the Pacific”

Asian Americans, as transnational immigrants, stay in between the host society and their native land and they are sensitive to both culture. Their life consists with border-crossing elements. With the development of media industries over the years, Korean culture have produced marketable popular cultural products such as films, music and animation which gradually expanded to the global market especially for Asian American youth. The consumption of Korean popular culture such as TV shows and music reconnect them to their homeland. The growing availability of cultural information from Korea has increased the opportunity for young Korean Americans to know more about Korean popular culture. However, in the U.S., many Korean American youths learn about Korean culture through Japanese lens. They get familiarized with the Japanese way of thinking through Korean comics which are actually Japanese origin. I think it is another form of hegemony, in a more secret but impactful way. It starts at the young generation, which are still immature and susceptible. And it will make a big influence to the society.

Question: Although for the first or 1.5 generation of Korean Americans, they are likely to accept Korean culture, it is still easy for their descendant, who are totally unfamiliar with Korean culture?