asan 464 the pop pacific: south korean and japanese ... · pdf fileanalyze the lyrics, visual...

ASAN 464 The Pop Pacific: South Korean and Japanese Popular Music & Society (O focus)

University of Hawai‘i – Mānoa, Summer session I, May 22 to June 19, 2017 Sakamaki D103, MTRF 9:00AM – 12:00 PM (Wednesdays off)

TWICE has attained huge success in Korea and the rest of Asia. As of May 2017, they have achieved considerable buzz in Japan despite not appearing on music shows or having released an album there. Three of the nine members are Japanese, and one is Taiwanese. So is this group a Korean pop group, or a Multi-Asian pop group who sings in Korean mixed with English? Instructors Dr. Jayson Makoto Chun ([email protected])

Dr. Patrick Patterson ([email protected])

Classroom and Office Sakamaki SIZ-D103

Office Hours By appointment (or usually after class)

Course Description and Student Learning Outcomes

This course examines changes in modern Japan and South Korea through a historical investigation of popular music. We will examine urban popular music from chart-topping idols, boy bands, and rock groups as well as "traditional" Korean teuroto and Japanese enka music and the lesser-known subcultures of folk and computer music. You the student (well, at least some of you), most likely know more about K-pop or J-pop than the instructors. So this course is not a place for fan discussions – remember, not all of the class will be pop music experts. And there are so many key artists and songs that we are unable to cover all key works in detail.

2 ASAN 464 The Pop Pacific: South Korean and Japanese Popular Music & Society University of Hawai‘i – M ānoa, Summer 2017 Rather, we care going to look at a “Pop Pacific,” a space of transnational cultural construction where “Korean” and “Japanese” popular music, with heavy American influence, has been created through a process of cultural exchange mediated through Japantowns and Koreatowns in the U.S, American bases in East Asia, TV, and the Internet. This hybridized popular music culture took root from the mid-1920s with Japanese-American jazz musicians performing in Japan, Japanese composers mixing Korean music and western scales, Japanese enka records making its way to colonial Korea, and Korean domestication of outside trends. In the postwar period, American military bases and the growing interplay between television and music corporations accelerated and mediated this transnational flow. By the turn of the new millennium, the Internet allowed for instantaneous access to information and provided easier means for fan interactions, expanding the global market. The “Pop Pacific” will reveal the hidden transnational aspects of today’s K-pop (Korean pop) and J-pop (Japanese pop), and show that much of this Asian popular music was part of a larger global web of world music and so labels of national origin like “Japanese,” “Korean,” or “American” hide the true nature of the transnational web of popular music. You will learn the following (Asian studies divisional outcomes are listed in parenthesis): SLO 1: Describe 20th century Japanese and South Korean popular music and its relation to the rest of the world) (A2, A3, A4, A5, A6)

● Describe the beginnings of modern East Asian popular music such as “ryūkōka” 流行歌/yuhaengga 유행가 and Jazz in the early 20th century.

● Describe postwar Japanese and South Korean urban popular music, from “traditional” enka to chart-topping idols, to alternative music.

● Describe globalization: South Korean and Japanese music abroad and the entry of foreign trends into these nations.

SLO 2: Examine popular music in the context of cultural studies (A2, A3, A4, A5, A6)

● Examine how the producer and audiences work together to create meaning in popular culture products, how media culture is a source of values for society, and

● Examine how recording technology and distribution influences musical culture ● Examine how it functions to legitimate or challenge the social structure. ● Examine how media culture intersects with issues of gender, national identity, and race.

SLO 3: Analyze various genres of popular music and their relationship with South Korean, Japanese and world society (A2, A3, A4, A5, A6)

● Describe their relationship to the historical currents of the time. ● Analyze the lyrics, visual imagery, and music itself as reflections of the continued

modernization process in Japan. This course is interdisciplinary, covering a range of subjects including Japanese cultural history and music, East Asian studies, popular music and culture, and music as modern text. Knowledge of Japanese or Korean is not necessary, nor is formal training in music.

3 ASAN 464 The Pop Pacific: South Korean and Japanese Popular Music & Society University of Hawai‘i – M ānoa, Summer 2017

About the instructors

Dr. Jayson Makoto Chun is an associate professor at the University of Hawai‘i – West O‘ahu, specializing in Japanese media history and culture. He has written the book A Nation of a Hundred Million Idiots: A Social History of Japanese Television, 1953–1973, and also articles on Japanese and Korean popular culture. He has taught university courses on anime and J-pop (Japanese popular music) for over 10 years, has been featured on Japanese television and has been the keynote speaker at a conference where he gave a presentation on Hyuna’s “Bubble Pop”. He is currently doing research on TWICE as a multinational group, stumbling through intermediate-level Korean as well as writing a book about the Pop Pacific, looking at popular music in East Asia from a wider, inter-regional view. Dr. Patrick Patterson is Professor, CC, History at Honolulu Community College. He specializes in the history of Japanese popular music between 1887 and 1952. Dr. Patterson has taught classes on J-pop, History and Film, World History and Asian Studies for 15 years. He is currently editing a monograph on the beginnings of popular music in Japan, and writing on One Punch Man and changes in the popular music marketing process as well as doing research on Japanese journalism in the prewar period. Professor Patterson enjoys watching (and analyzing) film and learning Japanese songs for karaoke in his spare time.

Readings

Reading packet and online readings Hong, Y. Euny (2014). The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World through Pop Culture. New York: Picador. When I first visited South Korea in 1994 and brought back K-pop tapes, people laughed at me for bringing back such hick music. Not anymore How did K-pop become so popular, so quickly? What does this tell about South Korean culture today? Hong’s exploration of her own childhood will explain why. Seabrook, John (2015). The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory. This book looks at global popular music culture and the way it has been changed by new technology, specific music productin techniques, and the changing market. We will use it to help us understand the transnational nature of popular music, which we will relate to Japanese and Korean popular music in class. Readings and handouts via laulima.hawaii.edu. Some handouts will be distributed in class.


Course Requirements and credit hour statement The University of Hawai‘i – Mānoa Credit Hour Policy states that students in a 3-credit course are expected to devote a minimum of 9-hours a week (135 hours/semester) on course related work. In accordance with the Credit Hour Policy, this course was reviewed to assure that the work assigned to achieve the stated student learning outcomes meets the credit hour policy. To achieve adequate learning in this course, it is expected that students will need to devote a minimum of 9 hours a week attending scheduled class meetings, completing assigned readings, working on the study questions, researching and writing the reaction papers, and studying for scheduled exams and quizzes. The course requirements are: 1st presentation (10 mins for 2 person group, 15 mins for 3) 20%

Individual fan culture presentation (Pechakucha style, 6 mins 40 seconds each person)

10%

2nd presentation (10 mins for 2 person group, 15 mins for 3) 20%

Fan culture paper (to accompany fan presentation) 15%

Quizzes based on assigned and in-class readings. 25%

Participation and attendance 15%

Total = 100%

The Korean group BTS is wildly popular throughout Asia. Although not as well-known overseas, the Japanese group ARASHI is one of the top-grossing groups in the world today. Both share a common

lineage – from American influences like West Side Story (1961). Assignment Descriptions

5 ASAN 464 The Pop Pacific: South Korean and Japanese Popular Music & Society University of Hawai‘i – M ānoa, Summer 2017 First Presentation – Narrative of Music History. This presentation will be a discussion of the relationship of a period in modern Japanese history to the popular music of that period. ● You will be placed in groups of two. There may be three people groups. ● It must be 10 - 12 minutes for a 2-person group; 15 minutes for a 3 person group. ● You must bring up how the genre reflects the society of the time. ● What images or symbols are typical for this genre? Use a semiotic analysis. ● You must make reference to the class readings and lectures ● Give representative groups, and how they typify or deviate from genre standards. ● Explain the ideological aims of the genre, and speculate on ways of “listening otherwise.” In other

words, how do consumers use (and repurpose music, giving it a different meaning)? ● Learn to use bulletin boards to find people who can translate portions of song lyrics. The instructors will review your choice of presentation and the speaking rubric. There will be an in-class presentation workshop. Instructors will be available to give assistance during office hours. We will also provide feedback on drafts and the final product.

In the 1960s, the Japanese singer Sakamoto Kyu and the Korean trio, the Kim Sisters made

appearances on American television.


Fan Culture Presentation and paper – This is an individual pechakucha (20 slides, 20 seconds each) 6 min and 40 second presentation (accompanied by a paper) based on interpreting fan culture, including fan documents and activities through using BBS. Post a question on a BBS or Twitter (or other online social media) asking fans a question about the artist (i.e: What does the Korean group EXO mean to you? Why do you like them?) Analyze their responses.

● Presentations will be 5-8 minutes, so you need to be concise. Class paper Guidelines (Turn in paper on same time as presentation)

● It must be a minimum of four FULL pages in length (2 line spacing, in 12 pt. Times New Roman Font) not including the title and works cited pages.

● You must make reference to the readings and or lectures. ● Use a cultural studies approach and semiotics as well. ● Cite all sources use proper citation styles. Either footnotes or endnotes are fine. Whether it is

MLA, Chicago, etc is up to you. Have a works cited page. Second Presentation – Analysis of an artist (or similar grouping of artists) in postwar Korean or Japanese popular music. This presentation requires that you choose an artist or grouping of artists (“Hawaii singers”) in the postwar period and research the development or career (for a presentation on an artist) in the context of the relevant developments in Japanese society.

● You will be placed in groups of two. There may be three people groups if there are an odd number of students.

● It must be 10 - 12 minutes for a 2 person group. and 15 minutes for a 3 person group. ● You must bring up how the artist reflects the society of the time. ● You must make reference to the class readings and lectures ● What images or symbols are typical for this artist? Use a semiotic analysis. ● Give representative songs for this artist, and how these songs reflect the artist’s vision. ● Explain the ideological aims of the genre, and speculate on ways of “listening otherwise.” In

other words, how do consumers use (and repurpose music, giving it a different meaning)? ● Learn to use bulletin boards to find people who can translate portions of your song lyrics.

Quizzes – All scheduled quizzes will be completed outside of class. Some “pop” quizzes may also be given if students do not come to class prepared. The quizzes will assess your understanding of Japanese and Korean history, culture and popular music terminology and relevant theories.

● These will be available on Laulima, and are 1-2 page typed. ● Please refer to your readings and lectures when writing your quizzes ● Also bring up the social, cultural and historical contexts


Participation Attendance will be taken for this class. Those with three or more absences without official permission or a doctor’s note will have their final grade marked down. We understand that sometimes you have work or family responsibilities, and cannot attend a class. If so, send us an email and we can work things out. If you miss a class, you are responsible for getting class notes, Now if you have perfect, or near perfect attendance, and work very hard at class participation, then you will get a “break” if your grade is on the borderline between two grades. Electronic copies of papers will not be accepted without instructor’s permission. You are responsible for printing them out and handing a paper copy on time! Keep all copies of the papers you write on file. Late papers will be accepted, but at a penalty for each day it is late.

Plagiarism You are responsible for knowing the University of Hawai’i policy on plagiarism:

“Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, submitting, to satisfy an academic requirement, any document that has been copied in whole or in part from another individual’s work without identifying that individual; neglecting to identify as a quotation a documented idea that has not been assimilated into the student’s language and style; paraphrasing a passage so closely that the reader is misled as to the source; submitting the same written or oral material in more than one course without obtaining authorization from the instructors involved; and “dry-labbing,” which includes obtaining and using experimental data from other students without the express consent of the instructor, utilizing experimental data and laboratory write-ups from other sections of the course or from previous terms, and fabricating data to fit the expected results.” (http://www.catalog.hawaii.edu/about-uh/campus-policies1.htm) ● In other words, do not “cut and paste” from the Internet without citing your sources. ● You may receive an automatic “F” and will be reported if caught cheating.

The genius of Japanese megagroup AKB48 is that there are over 100 members, who can be split off

into subunits or featured separately in TV shows. How corporate!!

8 ASAN 464 The Pop Pacific: South Korean and Japanese Popular Music & Society University of Hawai‘i – M ānoa, Summer 2017 Other We reserve the right to change syllabus readings and will notify the class if we do so. If you have disabilities or other conditions that affect you participation in this course, please contact the instructor privately to discuss your needs. Let’s like to try to make our classroom more like a lounge, like a fan convention each week. Please give your advice on how we can best make it into an un-classroom.

● You may bring your own pillows and yoga mats to sprawl on the floor during class ● No food that makes a lot of noises or smells. Acceptable foods are donuts, chocolate,

malasadas, pizzas, etc. All food must be consumed outside. ● You may get up and write on the walls at any time, using dry erase markers. ● Students may show clips of interesting stuff (non-offensive) to the main screen.

Here are some commonsense classroom rules.

1. Eating and drinking in classroom D-103 is not allowed. You may eat and drink at outside tables.

2. Avoid talking, texting or disruptive behavior while class is in progress. If you must text or browse email due to an emergency, go to the side table.

3. Turn off your cell phones or at least put them in silent mode. 4. Please tell one of us if you need to leave class early. 5. Be in your seats the minute class starts. We understand that you may have to be late

sometimes, but do not make a habit of this. 6. If you do come in late, come in discreetly and quietly. 7. Since music appreciation has subjective elements, please respect the tastes of your fellow

students during discussions. 8. At least say “Hi” or “good afternoon,” and “see you later” to each other in class.

Viral hits like PPAP (Pikotaro) or Gangnam Style (PSY) were originally not intended for overseas

consumption yet became huge hits overseas. Is there a relationship between their popularity in the U.S have to do with Western views of Asian male masculinity (i.e: the Asian “clown”)?

9 ASAN 464 The Pop Pacific: South Korean and Japanese Popular Music & Society University of Hawai‘i – M ānoa, Summer 2017 Last of all, a request from the instructor This was one of the first classes in the NATION solely devoted to this topic, starting back in 2012! But this course will only be as good as YOU the student, decide to make it. Sometimes the class was quiet and all students wanted to do was take notes. Other years, the class was high energy. Some years, the students talked to each other in class but that was about it. Other years, the students became friends, and still keep in touch with each other or the instructor. So, how the class turns out will depend on YOU. We’ll do our best to keep this class intellectually stimulating and fun. As for you, please be respectful towards others and their views. If you are fan of anime, then realize that some people are beginners and please help them learn the anime basics. If you are a beginner, don't worry, by the end of the course should have a working knowledge of the topic. Let’s work on having fun and learning a lot in this class. And about grades – the key to success is regular attendance, daily study, and intellectual curiosity. If you come to every class, participate enthusiastically and do every assignment, we GUARANTEE you will do well in this course (and enjoy it too!)

Utada Hikaru’s Automatic (1999) was the best-selling Japanese album of all time, and was popular

back in the Golden Age of J-pop (1991-2007). But now it is multinational K-pop groups like BLACKPINK that are popular in East and SE Asia


WEEK ONE Roots: Early Pop Pacific Music to the mid-20th Century

Date In Class Due Today

May 22 Mon

Class Introduction and “ice breaking”

Lecture 01: Pop music: Producer, Audience, context (Chun)

Introduce instructors Introduce self, go over course goals

May 23 Tues

Analyzing production and consumption

Importance of locale: Globalization and Glocalization

Readings ● Chun, “Bubble Pop” (2016) ● Seabrook, The Song Machine,

Chap 1-2 pp. 3 - 20, and Chap 16-17, pp. 198-220

● Quiz 01: Quiz on readings (due today)

May 24 Wed

No class. Work on genre research

● Watch Death by Powerpoint Video to learn how to make effective presentations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjcO2ExtHso

May 25 Thurs

Lecture 02: Beginnings of the Pop Pacific, (Patterson) ● Origins of “traditional” Japanese music ● Birth of Japan popular music industry Lecture 03: Domesticating new music: Japanese jyazu and Korean teuroteu, (Chun) Presentation training: Tell class about genre interested in. Go into groups afterwards.

Readings: ● Hong, 1 – 17. ● Patterson: New Folk Songs ● Trot: The Original K-pop

http://seoulbeats.com/2012/08/trot-the-original-k-pop

May 26 Fri

Lecture 04: Origins of the Pop Pacific: Occupied Japan and Occupied Korea (Chun) --------------------------------------- Discuss Seabrook in Class (Patterson) Presentation training: Present draft in class for five minutes. Then go over pechakucha presentation format.

Readings: ● Seabrook 21 -92 Quiz 02: on Seabrook Look up a genre and bring your findings as a one-page paper (But failure to bring will affect participation)




WEEK TWO America, the Cold War Sphere, and the Pop Pacific


May 29 Mon

Memorial Day holiday

May 30 Tues. 1960s Pop Pacific in America

First Presentations (9:00 - 10:25 am) Work on presentation. Minimum of 10 slides (one per minute)

Fan groups workshop (Patterson) ● What is the fan? ● Para-social interaction and aura ● Fan culture (baseball analogy) ● How to research fan culture.

May 31 Wed

No class.

June 1 Thurs Mainstream and margins in 1960s and 1970s.

Lecture 08: 1960s: Cold War Politics, High Speed growth, and Dissent (Patterson)

● Authenticity in 1960s youth culture ● The global attack on rock

Lecture 06: Asians and Gender on American TV: Sakamoto Kyu and the Kim Sisters, and now PSY (Chun)

Readings: ● Furmanovsky. 2012. “A Complex

Fit: The Remaking of Japanese Femininity and Fashion, 1945-65.” Kokusai Bunka Kenkyu. Vol 16.

● Hong, chap 4&5, 51 - 89, chap 7, “When Korea Banned Rock ‘N’ Roll” 107-118

● Pan, “Is "Gangnam Style" a Hit Because of Our Asian Stereotypes?” Mother Jones (2012)

Quiz 03 June 2 Fri

The Idol Society

Lecture 07: 1950s Enka 101 (Patterson)

Lecture 10: Japan Inc (1973 - 1989) and the beginning of idol culture, (Chun)

Discuss drafts in class (if time)

Readings: ● Karlin and Galbraith, “Introduction”

1 - 34 ● Karlin, “Through a Looking Glass

Darkly” 72 - 96.

Quiz 04

Bring three-page draft (cover + three full pages + work cited) to class.


WEEK THREE Pop Pacific: The Golden Age of J-pop and Beginnings of the Korean Wave


June 5 Mon

Fan presentations (9:00– 10:15 am) ------------------------------ Movie in class: 200lb Beauty (2006). K-pop and beauty.

Fan paper due today. Presentations due today

June 6 Tues

Lecture 11: Bubble and Post-bubble Japan (Patterson)

Lecture 12: The Pop Pacific: America, J-pop and K-pop. (Chun)

In class: Analyze American influence in Japanese and South Korean music.

Readings: ● Chun, “The Pop Pacific” (2016) ● Marx, “The Jimusho System” pp. 35 -

55.

Quiz 05

June 7 Wed

No class

June 8 Thurs The Golden Age of J-pop

Lecture 13: The Golden Age of J-pop (1991 – 2011) Multicultural gender power in an age of flux (Chun) Discuss next Friday’s presentation

Readings: ● Hong, chaps 6 – 10, pp. 91 – 178. ● Beva, David. 2012. “Seoul Trained:

Inside Korea’s Pop Factory” Spin. March 26.

● Hong, Euny. 2012. “Goodbye Kitty: Why it was so easy for Korea to overtake Japan in the pop culture wars?” Quartz.com. November 17.

June 9 Friday

Lecture 14: Fall of J-pop. Galapagos Japan: Jimusho and the Japanese Music Scene (Patterson).

Lecture 15: Birth of Korean cool: Seo Taiji and the birth of K-pop (Chun)

Readings ● Hong, chap 12, pp. 195 - 210., chap

15, pp. 237-252.

Quiz 06


WEEK 4 J-pop is for Japanese, K-pop is not Korean: The Worldwide Song Machine

Date

In Class

Due Today

June 12 Mon

Kamehameha Day Holiday. No class

June 13 Tues.

Lecture 16: The Korean Wave in Japan (Chun)

Lecture 17: The Hidden Mainstream, Internet and “amateurs” (Patterson)

Readings: ● Michel, Patrick St. 2011. ”How Korean

Pop Conquered Japan,” The Atlantic. September 13.

● Hong, chaps 11 – end, pp. 179 – 252.

Quiz 07

June 14 Wed

No Class

June 15 Thurs.

Manufactured pop, globalization, and nationalism

Lecture 18: The Revolution will not be televised (Patterson)

Lecture 19: Manufactured Loyalty through Girl Groups: AKB48, SNSD (Chun)

Readings: ● Marty Friedman and Timothy Lim on

BabyMetal https://youtu.be/i2qarTeJ1Bk ● https://youtu.be/rZApf9c8Tes BabyMetal

American Debut ● Patterson: What Is BabyMetal ● St. Michel, Patrick. 2011. “The 48

Japanese Schoolgirls Aiming to Take over the World” The Atlantic. Oct 18.

● Seabrook, The Song Machine, Chap 14, “Factory Girls: Cultural technology and the making of K-pop.” pp. 149 - 17

Quiz 08

June 16 Friday

Final Presentations

Celebration at Gyukaku at 5:00 pm with Dr. J’s anime class. Karaoke afterwards. Time to party and network.

https://youtu.be/i2qarTeJ1Bk

https://youtu.be/rZApf9c8Tes


Bibliography for this class Bourdaghs, Michael (2012). Sayonara Amerika, Sayonara Nippon: A Geopolitical Prehistory of J-Pop.

New York: Columbia University Press. Choi, JungBong, and Roald Maliangkay (2014). K-pop: The International Rise of the Korean Music

Industry. New York: Routledge. Fuhr, Michael (2015). Globalization and Popular Music in South Korea: Sounding out K-pop. New York:

Routledge. Hong, Y. Euny (2014). The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World through Pop

Culture. New York: Picador. Iwabuchi, Koichi. Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism (2002).

Durham: Duke University Press. Jung, E.Y. “Transnational Cultural Traffic in Northeast Asia: The “Presence” of Japan in Korea’s Popular

Music Culture,” (2001) Ph.D thesis, Arizona State University. Lie, John (2014). K-pop Popular Music, Cultural Amnesia, and Economic Innovation in South Korea.

Berkeley: University of California Press. Seabrook, John (2015). The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory. New York: W.W Norton. Stevens, Carolyn S (2007). Japanese Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity and Power. New York:

Routledge Press.


Oral Presentation Rubric MASTERY OF THE SUBJECT (____ /50pts) 5 4 3 2 1

0 -pertinence -depth of commentary -spoken, not read -able to answer questions

Communication Skills (_____ 25 pts) PRESENCE 5 4 3 2 1

0 -body language & eye contact -contact with the public -poise and enthusiasm -physical organization -Appropriate attire

LANGUAGE SKILLS 5 4 3 2 1

0 -correct usage -appropriate vocabulary and grammar -understandable (rhythm, intonation, accent) -spoken loud enough to hear easily

Presentation Organization ( _____ 25 pt) ORGANIZATION 5 4 3 2 1

0 -clear objectives -logical structure -Cites references

VISUAL AIDS 5 4 3 2 1

0 -transparencies, slides -handouts -audio, video, etc.


Other 5 4 3 2 1

0 -pleasant / unpleasant to listen to -very good / poor communication -Shows teamwork, and all members speak

TOTAL SCORE _______

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