Wonseok Lee, PhD candidate in musicology at Ohio State, presents "K as a Floating Signifier: The meaning of K in multiethnic K-pop." This lecture is co-sponsored by The Ohio State University Libraries.
If asked, what would you say about idol groups consisting of all non-Korean musicians who are singing in the Korean language and promoting themselves as K-pop? Are they K-pop, despite the absence of Korean ethnicity? Some might argue that Korean ethnicity is important to determine whether it is K-pop. However, the importance of Korean ethnicity has declined over the past decades as it has become more common to see non-Korean musicians in the industry. In other words, the ethnic boundary of K-pop has expanded from Kyopo (people of Korean descent born and raised in the United State, Canada, Australia etc.) musicians in the early 1990s to non-Korean ethnic musicians today, not only from neighboring countries such as mainland China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines, but also from distant countries such as Russia, Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Brazil and Argentina.
This talk explores how and why K-pop has absorbed diverse ethnicities, how it brings about transitions, and eventually how the meaning of K in K-pop is differently interpreted depending on the way individuals see multiethnic K-pop. In doing so, Lee argues that "K" in K-pop does not exist as a fixed concept, but as what Stuart Hall refers to as “floating signifier” in the K-pop industry.
A native of Seoul, South Korea, Wonseok Lee is a PhD candidate in musicology (emphasis on ethnomusicology). His dissertation project, titled K-Pop Resounding: Korean Popular Music beyond Koreanness, focuses on how the meaning of “K” in “K-pop” is (re)interpreted by individuals, how K-pop resounds beyond Koreanness, and eventually what makes “K-pop” K-pop, under the circumstances with non-Korean members singing in non-Korean languages being common in the field, though the term, K-pop, constantly represents a certain ethnicity and language. Lee's research has been selected by the Academy of Korean Studies. Also, five of his articles including four co-authored papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Popular Music Studies, Korean Journal of Popular Music, International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) Journal, Journal of World of Popular Music, and Rock Music Studies. Additionally, he has published two book reviews in the Journal of Asian Studies and Sino-NK (a scholarly collective of young Sinologists and Koreanists). His book chapter contribution focusing on the prominent K-pop group BTS is now under review for publication by Duke University Press.
Lectures in Musicology is co-sponsored by The Ohio State University Libraries.
Lectures are held Mondays at 4 p.m. in the 18th Avenue Library, 175 W. 18th Ave. (Music/Dance Library, second floor, room 205). These events are free and open to the public. Campus visitors, please use either the Tuttle Park Place Garage or the Ohio Union South Garage. All other garages in the vicinity of the 18th Ave. Library are closed to visitors before 4 p.m.
All events are subject to change.