Contemporary Korean Culture from the Edge

Hong Kal is Associate Professor in the Department of Visual Art and Art History at York University. She is the author of Aesthetic Constructions of Korean Nationalism: Spectacle, Politics, and History (2011). Jooyeon Rhee is Associate Professor of Asian Studies and Comparative Literature at Penn State University. She is the author of The Novel in Transition: Gender and Literature in Early Colonial Korea (2019).Thomas R. Klassen is Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University in Toronto, Canada. He is co-editor of North Korea: Translation and Transformation in a Global Context (2024).

“Contemporary Korean Culture from the Edge provides a solid, timely, and multidisciplinary overview of contemporary South Korea’s cultural landscape. By organizing its exploration around the fluid concepts of transgression, innovation, and intimacy, the volume effectively moves beyond simple binaries to examine the nation’s cultural shifts since the early 2000s. From K-pop’s hybridity to protest art and 'healing' TV drama, the chapters offer clear, well-contextualized case studies. This volume is a valuable and cohesive guide to the social, political, and artistic forces shaping Korea today.”

• Part I: Korea from the EdgeChapter 1: Contemporary Korean Culture from the Edge: Transgression, Innovation, and Intimacy Jooyeon Rhee, Hong Kal, and Thomas R. KlassenChapter 2: Shifting Cultural Politics in the New Korean Wave Era Dal Yong JinChapter 3: At the Intersection of Art and Politics: Protest Art in Korea Hong KalPart II: TransgressionChapter 4: Will Someone Please Come Knocking at My Door? Korean Literature in the Twenty-first Century Bruce FultonChapter 5: Looking to the Stars: The Astrology and MBTI of K-pop Keung Yoon BaeChapter 6: The Korean Style: Hybridity and the Hypermodern Aesthetic Michael W. HurtChapter 7: Bodies in Contemporary Korean Feminist Art after the Feminism Reboot Vicki Sung-yeon KwonPart III: Innovations from the EdgeChapter 8: Jogakbo Architecture: Patchwork Architecture and Urbanism of Seoul Daekwon ParkChapter 9: A Century in the Making: Korean Popular Music’s Abbreviation to K-pop Wonseok Lee and Pil Ho KimChapter 10: Digital Visual Culture in Korean Crime Thrillers Mi Young ParkPart IV: New Expressions of Intimacy Chapter 11: Healing the Nation Through the Small Screen: Strange Lawyers, Psych Wards, Golden Kids, and South Korean Television Audiences Bonnie TillandChapter 12: Ageing, Mutual Affection, and Romance: Gerontoromcons Come of Age in South Korean Cinema Joanna Elfving-HwangChapter 13: From Hansik to Korean Corn Dogs: The Taste of Authenticity and Globalization of Korean Food Jooyeon Rhee