Biography
My research concerns the transnational cultural phenomena termed “Cool Japan” (クールジャパン) and the “Korean Wave” (한류), in particular Japanese and Korean idol singers, the local music and film talent who have become both de facto and official representatives of government-sponsored soft power policies. I examine the circulation, mediation, manipulation, and discourse surrounding media commodifying Japanese and Korean idols in the original and nonnative loci of reception via the Internet and I hope to elucidate the logic, significance, and implications for the individual, nation, and paradigm of a cultural world order in the export of cultural symbols across borders in an evolving, multifaceted media landscape.
To that end, my research encompasses the Japanese and Korean idol production systems, male and female idols, and the anthropological, economic, musicological, political, sociological, and technological factors involved in the international popularization of Japanese and Korean media. I am particularly interested in the collaboration of the Japanese and Korean governments in promoting popular culture abroad, the transnational adoption of tropes and other genre markers, and the reflexive circulation of cultural products.
I focus on the role of technology in these transnational interactions, particularly as it relates to translation and communication, and I afford specific attention to quantitative and qualitative data analysis and digital humanities in my work.