KDrama School, Grace Jung
KDrama School, Grace Jung
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

K-Drama School
A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television

Author: Grace Jung

Narrator: Grace Jung

Unabridged: 9 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/23/2024


Synopsis

From the Emmy Award-winning Squid Game to streaming sensations like The Glory and Crash Landing on You, Korean television has emerged onto the global pop culture scene as compelling television—but what exactly makes these shows so irresistibly bingeable? And what can we learn about our societies and ourselves from watching them?

From stand-up comedian and media studies PhD Grace Jung comes a rollicking deep dive into the cultural significance of Korean television. K-Drama School analyzes everything from common tropes like amnesia and slapping to conspicuous product placements of Subway sandwiches and coffee; to representations of disability, race and gender; to what Korea's war-torn history says about South Korea’s media output and the stories being told on screen.

With chapters organized by "lessons," each one inquiring into a different theme of Korean television, K-Drama School offers a groundbreaking exploration into this singular form of entertainment, from an author who writes with humor and heart about shows that spur tears and laughter, keeping us glued to the TV while making fans of us all.

Shows discussed include: Squid Game, SKY Castle, Crash Course in Romance, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, My Mister, Something in the Rain, One Spring Night, DP, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, Autumn in My Heart, Winter Sonata, Our Blues, and more.

Reviews

won in a goodread’s giveaway. i love kdramas! reading this was so interesting, i learned a lot that i didn’t know. i also got a lot of new kdramas to add to my list! a must read if you love kdramas.......more

Goodreads review by Kirsten

This is such a mess. There is some interesting stuff here, but it’s buried in authorial rants about her past traumas, how academia done her wrong, that time a friend of hers died in a drug overdose, a weird dream she had once, etc. etc. etc. You have to really dig for the good stuff. This has the wr......more

Goodreads review by Richard

Critical Score: 4.5 Personal Score: 4.75 Total Score: 9.25......more

Really enjoyed this book which as it promises provides an analysis of Korean drama in movies and TV shows. The fraught history of Korea and the continuing geopolitical currents and tensions arising from such a violent past show up in the psyche of the Korean people, and in its popular media. What wa......more

Goodreads review by Apollos

“K-dramas offer me space to explore my personal pathos, process grief, and self-reflect through my emotional responses.” 📺 Squid Game. Crash Landing on You. My Liberation Notes. The Glory. D.P. SKY Castle. Something in the Rain. These are some of the K-dramas that film and TV scholar Grace Jung write......more