ABSTRACT
This paper explores the process by which Korean nationalism was challenged and transformed through utilizing sports celebrities as iconic figures during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) intervention in South Korea.? The influences of the IMF intervention were not limited to economic and political fields; rather, Korean nationalism had undergone substantial changes through the national crisis.? At that time, two Korean athletes who were hugely successful in the U.S. became national celebrities, or even national heroes in South Korea.? The media representation of these two Korean athletes is useful for the understanding of altered nationalism during the IMF intervention. The analysis of media coverage of these two athletes can be summarized in three ways: first, the coverage is focused on a self-governing individual; second, that individual is invested with the image of economic success in global competition; and third, that individual is invested with the image of responsibility for both family and nation-state.? Conclusively, the two celebrities were presented as models for a new kind of citizenship, i.e. a national individual. Finally, this paper suggests that Korean nationalism has been altered through the IMF intervention, but remains a hegemonic ideology albeit combined with neoliberalism.
KEYWORDS: nationalism, globalization, the IMF intervention, sports celebrity, national individual
Authorˇ¦s biography
Younghan Cho is currently a postdoctoral fellow of Asian Studies at University of Texas at Austin. After earning his MA degree at Seoul National University in 2002, he moved to the U.S. to pursue his PhD degree at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2007, he completed the dissertation, under the advise of Lawrence Grossberg, of which title is ˇ§Emergence of Individuated Nationalism among Major League Baseball Fans in South Korea.ˇ¨ His major research is on nationalism, sports, media and popular culture, and his current projects include East Asian popular culture and alternative modernities in East Asia.? He is appointed as a postdoctoral researcher in Asian Research Institute at National Singapore University, which begins in April 2008.
Contact address: Department of Asian Studies, 1 University Station, G9300, Austin, Texas 78712. U.S.A. |
