Spinning the ‘K’ Yarn: The Thriving Media Cottage Entrepreneurship of Mizoram

Abstract

No contest, no copyright, just purchase. Welcome to the world of media consumption in the border state of Mizoram where prime time viewing on television is set aside exclusively for Korean serials, cinema and tele-films. K wave, a popular term for Korean Media products, whose circulation and transaction across borders is taking place at a conjuncture in which globalization itself is being redefined through flows of data and information. This chapter seeks to explore the process through which Korean media products have been popularized and converted into a household phenomenon in Mizoram. A provincial state characterized as a media dry area, marked by the absence of local film and entertainment industry. Towards this objective, the chapter investigates on four broad trajectories. One identifying the major players engaged in production/ reproduction, transmission and circulation of Korean media products in Mizoram and how these major players interact to sustain and operate a thriving modus operandi. Second it dwells on the role of technology, particularly digital technology in providing a facilitating ecology for this phenomenon. How is the content sourced? How is Korean content made pliable & ready for local Mizo consumption. The linkages which make possible the thriving network of distribution, circulation and access. The third trajectory investigates the agency of Mizo audience in this circulation and consumption of Korean media products. Lastly, an attempt is made to delineate the location of government media policy and framework in this cultural transaction.