The Korean Wave (Hallyu) and Its Cultural Translation by Fans in Qatar

Abstract

This study employs in-depth qualitative interviews with Arab fans of Korean popular culture who live in Qatar to examine their cultural translation of Korean TV drama and K-pop music. It uses a transcultural approach to fandom studies, rather than foregrounding nationality as an analytic category. It focuses on fans’ appropriations of these cultural texts in relation to their affinities, feelings, emotions, and accumulations of cultural capital used to negotiate their consumption of Korean popular culture. This article identifies emotions of frustration and fascination as central to these fans’ transnational media engagement. It thereby shows that affinity is a central concern for research on transcultural receptions of non-Western cultures by non-Western audiences.