Content area
Abstract
This thesis traces patterns and conceptions of contemporary South Korean masculinity in cultural products and young Koreans' discussions. Despite scholarship on Korean masculinity expanding, research still focuses on linguistic meanings, some on visual (e.g. Kim K.H., 2004, on film). Bringing different analytic parameters to this field, I address how songs and performances of popular music superstar Seo Taiji deal with 'being a man' using non-verbal modes of signification (vocal style, dance, etc.) and evaluate young Koreans' sense-making of gender and Taiji. Using discourse analysis, I trace patterns of masculinity in ballads from 1992-1994 and in performances of "Hayoˇga " (1993), and analyze fans' communications, gathered during in-depth interviews. This reveals Taiji is involved in transforming gender norms, sometimes providing pleasurable alternatives to hegemonic masculinity, but also indicates the masculinity of young Korean men is precariously placed between conventional norms and future possibilities, suggesting a liminal stage of young South Korean's contemporary culture.
