K-pop Nation(alism): Narratives of Authenticity after the Korean Wave

Abstract

What makes K-pop “Korean”? The question seems obvious—until you notice how many different people are trying to answer it, and how much their answers conflict.

This book moves beyond the dominant “Korean Wave” framework, which tends to treat K-pop’s national identity as a stable export product. Instead, I examine how multiple actors—industry professionals, media institutions, and fans themselves—actively construct competing narratives about what makes K-pop authentically Korean. Following the lifecycle of idol production and reception, from training systems and debut strategies through fan community formation and boundary policing, I trace how claims to authenticity are made, contested, and renegotiated across national and linguistic borders.

Drawing on nearly two decades of participant observation within K-pop fan communities, systematic social media archiving, and interviews with industry insiders, this project treats fan discourse not as secondary commentary but as a primary site where cultural meaning is made. The result is a study of authenticity not as something K-pop has, but as something multiple actors are constantly working to define.