Transnational Hallyu will benefit students and scholars of cultural globalization who are seeking new theoretical discussions. Besides theorization, the strongest feature of this book is its extensive review of relevant sources, rich examples, multilingual interview data, and up-to-date materials. In addition, the authors take a multi-level approach to examining governments, companies, and individual actors while dealing with structure/agency facets of transnational flow. It’s goal is to answer the question of “whether Hallyu is global and, furthermore, a globally hegemonic trend, and Korea has achieved super-power status in the global cultural market.” According to the authors, despite the previous successes of non-Western contraflows such as “Japanese anime, Bollywood cinema, Latin American telenovelas, and Turkish television dramas”, the global triumph of the Korean Wave, or Hallyu—including Kpop, games, K-dramas, animation, webtoons, cinema, and more—marks the emergence of a truly transnational cultural flow.

Pacific Affairs

Transnational Hallyu is a welcoming addition to Hallyu studies as it offers a holistic approach to the study of K-pop across the globe. It employsboth political economy and cultural studies in its analysis of the transnational flow and reception of K-pop in different geopolitical regions, and is one of the few books that provides a comprehensive understanding of how fans across North America, South America, and Europe consume K-pop despite their lack of geographical, linguistic, and cultural affinities. More importantly, the book engages with critical theories in the study of globalization and media, such as cultural imperialism, hybridity, and contra-flow to offer a new framework to the study of Hallyuas a significant vector of the global media and cultural landscape. In contrast to existing studies, the authors direct our attention to the significance of fans as producers and consumers who contribute to the circulation of K-pop as it travels across different geographical and cultural spaces. More importantly, the book helps us think of what an in-depth ethnographic study of global K-pop fandom would entail and further envision new theorization of Hallyu involving fan activism and transnational proximity.

Benjamin M Han, Asian Communication Research