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Article published In:
The Politics of Sound: Intersections of Music, Discourse and Political Communication
Edited by Lyndon C.S. Way
[Journal of Language and Politics 18:4] 2019
► pp. 560–578

Neoliberal feminism in contemporary South Korean popular music

Discourse of resilience, politics of positive psychology, and female subjectivity

ORCID logo | Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

This paper examines how South Korean popular music (K-pop) promotes neoliberal feminism by a discourse of resilience. In a therapeutic narrative of overcoming obstacles and achieving goals, K-pop videos deliver a hegemonic message that individuals have to be responsible for their success and well-being rather than blaming external, institutional conditions. While ostensibly promoting female empowerment, the videos update and reinforce patriarchal gender norms and expectations. To substantiate this point, I analyze music videos of the most successful K-pop group, Girls’ Generation’s “Into the New World” (2007) and “All Night” (2017) to investigate how they promote resilience discourse along with neoliberal positive psychology as a hegemonic ideal of female subjectivity.

Keywords: K-pop female idols, neoliberal feminism, discourse of resilience, positive psychology, governmentality
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Discourse, governmentality, and politics in popular music
  • 2.Discursive De-construction of K-pop Female idols’ success
  • 3.Celebrity: Discourse, pedagogy, and politics
  • 4.Neoliberal feminism: Resilience discourse and positive psychology
  • 5.“Into the new world”: Presenting resiliency as ideal femininity and key to success
  • 6.“All night”: How paid-off female resiliency would look like
  • 7.Conclusion: Feminism in K-pop as neoliberal exploitation of female aspirations
  • Notes
  • Reference
Published online: 12 June 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.18058.kim
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Cited by

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Kim, Gooyong
2019. From Hybridity of Cultural Production to Hyperreality of Post-feminism in K-pop: A Theoretical Reconsideration for Critical Approaches to Cultural Assemblages in Neoliberal Culture Industry. European Journal of Korean Studies ► pp. 125 ff. DOI logo
Yoong, Melissa
2020. Neoliberal Feminism, Postfeminism and Professional Identities in the Media. In Professional Discourses, Gender and Identity in Women's Media, ► pp. 27 ff. DOI logo

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