Abstract
Most of the young French fans we interviewed discovered the Korean Wave in middle or high school. Their decision to stand out by expressing their passion for a niche culture was very often met with incomprehension or ridicule. And yet, growing up with Hallyu was also a source of support when facing the various challenges of adolescence. These young fans developed new cosmopolitan forms of knowledge, especially linguistic skills. Fans with an immigrant background and relatively little social capital used their skills to develop cultural affiliations in order to counter the racism and prejudice they experience in their everyday life. Some of these fans were quickly driven to have their cosmopolitan competencies recognized and turned to specialized programs of study.
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Notes
- 1.
On the trials and tribulations of adolescence, see Hall 1904, often considered to be the foundational text for modern studies of adolescence.
- 2.
- 3.
The South Korean cultural products referred to in this book and marked with an asterisk are presented in the glossary at the end of the book.
- 4.
21 years old, activity leader at a recreation center, working-class Moroccan upbringing; has been a fan for seven years.
- 5.
22 years old, unemployed after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in international trade, working-class Moroccan upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 6.
26 years old, esthetician, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for eight years.
- 7.
24 years old, Master’s student in Asian studies, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for eight years.
- 8.
21 years old, sales consultant in children’s clothing (did not complete her vocational training certificate in cosmetology), working-class upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 9.
20 years old, third-year undergraduate student majoring in law and legal culture, upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for two years.
- 10.
22 years old, specialized receptionist working in a psychiatric medical center, working-class upbringing; has been a fan for three years.
- 11.
18 years old, high-school student, upper-classing upbringing; has been a fan for four years.
- 12.
28 years old, nursing assistant at a hospital, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 13.
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo_mo5vA7twE
- 14.
19 years old, searching for employment after two years of journalism school (which she did not finish), upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for six years.
- 15.
23 years old, second-year undergraduate student in economic and social administration, upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for eight years.
- 16.
For cathartic identification, see Jauss (1982: 177) who defines it as what allows the audience to “free” itself “from the real interests and entanglements of its world” and step into the shoes of the hero, who suffers or otherwise finds himself in a difficult situation, in order to provoke internal liberation through tragic emotion or laughter.
- 17.
22 years old, graduate student in Korean studies, working-class upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 18.
22 years old, French film school student, working-class upbringing, parents are Romanian and Italian; has been a fan for eight years.
- 19.
21 years old, sales consultant in children’s clothing (did not complete her vocational training certificate in cosmetology), working-class upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 20.
18 years old, first-year student in childcare studies, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for six years.
- 21.
28 years old, nursing assistant at a hospital, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 22.
22 years old, French film school student, working-class upbringing, parents are Romanian and Italian; has been a fan for eight years.
- 23.
23 years old, second-year undergraduate student in economic and social administration, upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for eight years.
- 24.
With regard to French fans, this explanation seems more fruitful than hypothesizing a “feminine universalism” as Oh and Jang propose doing for Asian publics (Oh and Jang 2011).
- 25.
25 years old, banking advisor, upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for eight years.
- 26.
23 years old, second-year undergraduate student in economic and social administration, upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for eight years.
- 27.
This is a classic trait of cultural transmission, which occurs more frequently through women. See Octobre 2011.
- 28.
31 years old, attending rheumatologist in a hospital, upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for nine years.
- 29.
20 years old, first-year undergraduate student in foreign and regional languages and literature, with a specialization in Spanish, works part-time, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for three years.
- 30.
24 years old, postgraduate student in political science, upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 31.
23 years old, undergraduate student in mathematics and computer science, working-class upbringing; has been a fan for two years.
- 32.
21 years old, works part-time at a Korean restaurant while preparing to enroll in a Master’s of Political Science with a focus on international relations; holds a bachelor’s degree in Korean from INALCO, middle-class upbringing, of Vietnamese descent; has been a fan for nine years.
- 33.
21 years old, third-year undergraduate student in business development, upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for two years.
- 34.
25 years old, sustainable development consultant, upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for five years.
- 35.
28 years old, nursing assistant at a hospital, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 36.
31 years old, head receptionist at a hotel, working-class upbringing; has been a fan for three years.
- 37.
27 years old, sales representative in a ready-to-wear clothing store in Paris, family is from Guadeloupe; has been a fan for ten years.
- 38.
20 years old, third-year undergraduate student in foreign and regional languages, cultures, and literature, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for six years.
- 39.
23 years old, second-year undergraduate student in economic and social administration, upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for eight years.
- 40.
19 years old, currently enlisted in France’s national civil service program after one year of journalism studies, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for three years.
- 41.
Name of the BTS fan club and thus by extension, of one of its members.
- 42.
28 years old, nursing assistant at a hospital, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 43.
20 years old, sales representative, middle-class upbringing, of Comorian descent has been a fan for eight years.
- 44.
18 years old, a first-year student in childcare studies, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for seven years.
- 45.
29 years old, data scientist, upper-class upbringing, of Tunisian descent; has been a fan for eight years.
- 46.
20 years old, majoring in French literature and preparing to sit the entrance exams for the most prestigious French universities, upper-class upbringing, of Algerian descent; has been a fan for three years.
- 47.
20 years old, sales representative, middle-class upbringing, of Comorian descent; has been a fan for eight years.
- 48.
20 years old, sales representative of Senegalese descent, middle-class upbringing, works in a ready-to-wear clothing store; has been a fan for three years.
- 49.
19 years old, second-year undergraduate student in law, working-class upbringing, of Comorian descent; has been a fan for three years.
- 50.
27 years old, sales representative in a ready-to-wear clothing store in Paris, family is from Guadeloupe; has been a fan for ten years.
- 51.
20 years old, obtaining an undergraduate work/study degree in asset management, upper-class upbringing, of Tunisian descent; has been a fan for three years.
- 52.
19 years old, second-year undergraduate student in a bilingual English/Spanish program, working-class upbringing, of Moroccan descent; has been a fan for two years.
- 53.
19 years old, currently enlisted in France’s national civil service program after one year of journalism studies, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for three years.
- 54.
18 years old, first-year student in childcare studies, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for six years.
- 55.
20 years old, sales representative of Senegalese descent, middle-class upbringing, works in a ready-to-wear clothing store; has been a fan for three years.
- 56.
20 years old, nursing school student, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for five years.
- 57.
24 years old, looking for work after graduating with a two-year degree, working-class upbringing, family is from Mayotte; has been a fan for eight years.
- 58.
18 years old, waitress in a restaurant (she has left school and is taking her baccalaureate exam as a free candidate), working-class upbringing; has been a fan for three years.
- 59.
24 years old, nurse, middle-class upbringing, of Moroccan descent; has been a fan for 11 years.
- 60.
31 years old, schoolteacher, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 61.
20 years old, unemployed (with low qualifications), middle-class upbringing, originally from Réunion; has been a fan for eight years.
- 62.
28 years old, nursing assistant at a hospital, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 63.
22 years old, French film school student, working-class upbringing, parents are Romanian and Italian; has been a fan for eight years.
- 64.
20 years old, sales representative of Senegalese descent, middle-class upbringing, works in a ready-to-wear clothing store; has been a fan for three years.
- 65.
L’Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO) is a French research institution that teaches languages from Central Europe, Africa, Asia, America, and Oceania. It is very selective.
- 66.
20 years old, sales representative, middle-class upbringing, of Comorian descent, practicing Muslim; has been a fan for eight years.
- 67.
20 years old, third-year undergraduate majoring in Korean at INALCO, working-class upbringing; has been a fan for four years.
- 68.
22 years old, unemployed after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in international trade, working-class Moroccan upbringing; has been a fan for ten years.
- 69.
22 years old, French film school student, working-class upbringing, parents are Romanian and Italian; has been a fan for eight years.
- 70.
Translator’s note: the European Framework of Reference for Languages (CECRL) is a classification that evaluates a student’s proficiency level in a foreign language. The levels range from A1 (beginner) to C2 (mastery and fluency). The A2 level corresponds to an advanced beginner who has some conversational skills in a foreign language and can communicate in simple and direct exchanges.
- 71.
24 years old, Master’s student in Asian studies, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for eight years.
- 72.
20 years old, third-year undergraduate student in foreign and regional languages, cultures, and literature, middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for six years.
- 73.
19 years old, searching for employment after two years of journalism school (which she did not finish), middle-class upbringing; has been a fan for six years.
- 74.
23 years old, second-year undergraduate student in economic and social administration, upper-class upbringing; has been a fan for eight years.
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Cicchelli, V., Octobre, S. (2021). Using Hallyu to Stand Out. In: The Sociology of Hallyu Pop Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84296-3_8
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