Korean TV Dramas:the Cultural Model Of Consumerism

In the late 1990s, Korean TV dramas expanded increasingly and exerted far-reaching social influence in Asia. The emergence of the Korean wave caused many scholars pondering on the unique cultural phenomenon. With Korean TV dramas widely accepted in the region, the household commodities from South Korea were welcomed by many Asians. It was evident that Korean pop culture had penetrated into the daily lives of Asians. South Korea quickly became a new power in the Asian pop culture, the long dominant, Tokyo and Hollywood, in the shade. Why could Korean dramas form a striking landscape in Asia? What were the contributing factors behind? Based on the above questions, within the guidance of sociology and communication theory, research was done on the spread of Korean dramas in Asia in the context of the drama production, its meaning framework and its cultural marketing dissemination. First, it found that Korean wave was beginning to affect people's lives and becoming the guide of the Asian audio-visual standards and aesthetic taste through discussing Korean dramas in Asian media context. Then the thesis analyzed the text type and content of Korean TV dramas, finding that the specific types of the Korean dramas help make the Asian audience to form their watch anticipation, which would be beneficial to their further understanding. Through the analysis of Korean dramas on the theme, plot, and character shaping, it probed into the problem of construction of the common cultural elements in drama production in global consumption era. The idea was that both strange familiarization and familiar defamiliarization satisfied the audience's psychological needs to a large extent. The fourth chapter discussed the construction of meaning framework of Korean dramas from the aspects of popular culture and common values for the Asian audience. Popular culture contained certain value orientation, which would affect the audience's judgment and action and lead to their new understanding of the life value. Oriental Confucian culture and the shared historical developing experience among the Asian countries together constituted the greatest common divisor of the Korean culture, which could be helpful to obtain maximum understanding of the Korean drama. First of all, the idea of cultural identity of consumer culture was discussed. Then the path of marketing was analyzed, finding that Asian audience acceptance of Korean dramas was based on the commonality of Asian culture and consumer culture. Finally it found that the mode of two-stage gatekeeper between the sender and the receiver effectively expanded the influence scope of Korean dramas. The emergence of the Korean Asian landscape had close relationship with the Korean government with its support in policies, laws, strategies, capital and talent security. The government took various measures for Korean dramas success in the international market. Its powerful guidance and support to Korean dramas industry showed its activity in the media field.My point is that the formation of the specific landscape of Korean dramas throughout Asia is based on the following two points:the first is shared cultural identity, the other is consumption identity.