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The rise in popularity of South Korean entertainment and culture began and is promoted as an official policy of the Korean government to revive the country´s economy. This study examines cultural production and consumption, glocalization, the West versus. Asia, global race consciousness, and changing views of masculinity and femininity.

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Introduction; Yasue Kuwahara PART I: PRODUCTION 1. Hallyu as a Government Construct: The Korean Wave in the Context of Economic and Social Development; John Walsh 2. Transformations of Korean Media Industries by the Korean Wave: The Perspective of Glocalization; Hyejung Ju 3. The Politics of the Dancing Body: Racialized and Gendered Femininity in Korean Pop; Chuyun Oh PART II: GLOCALIZATION 4. My Sassy Girl Goes Around the World; Jennifer Jung-Kim 5. ´Gangnam Style´ as Format: When a Localized Korean Song Meets a Global Audience; Claire Seungeun Lee and Yasue Kuwahara 6. That´s My Man!: Overlapping Masculinities in Korean Popular Music; Crystal S. Anderson 7. The S(e)oul of Hip-Hop: Locating Space and Identity in Korean Rap; Myoung-Sun Song 8. A Cultural Imperialistic Homecoming: The Korean Wave Reaches the United States; Sherri L. Ter Molen PART III: CONSUMPTION 9. Winter Sonata and Yonsama, Ideal Love and Masculinity: Nostalgic Desire and Colonial Memory; Young Eun Chae 10. Hanryu: Korean Popular Culture in Japan; Yasue Kuwahara

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"Yasue Kuwahara and her collaborators add profusely to the burgeoning literature about the Korean Wave, fielding questions and systematically answering them, on aspects such as global audiences, hegemonic relationships with the United States and Japan through Korean popular culture, glocalization, and government promotional policies. Their multidisciplinary and case study approaches to the study of Korean films, TV dramas, music, and social media, expressed in readable prose and filled with anecdotes and first-hand research, make this a very important contribution to communication and cultural studies." - John A. Lent, publisher and editor-in-chief of International Journal of Comic Art

"The Korean Wave offers an illuminating view into the world of Korean popular culture. Sometimes provocative, sometimes surprising, but always clear-sighted, each author offers an essay that stands well on its own but that also contributes to a scholarly, informative, and captivating volume. Yasue Kuwahara is to be commended for editing a collection that will appeal to scholars across disciplines, both those new to Korean popular culture and those who are well versed." - Jimmie Manning, Associate Professor, Communication, Northern Illinois University, USA

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