EALC Lecture Series: Beyond Borders: Navigating the Fluidity of K in K-Pop

This talk explores transnational aspects of K-pop, Korean popular music, and the complicated meaning of K. In the conventional sense of the term, K-pop refers to an ethno-national musical genre: dance-pop songs with Korean lyrics performed by predominantly ethnic Korean musicians. However, as the genre has absorbed diverse ethnicities and languages, it is hard to say contemporary K-pop is a fixed concept tied to national identity. It gives rise to questions about what the K in K-pop means and how to define K-pop. In this talk, Lee discusses why K in K-pop does not exist as a fixed concept but exists as a floating signifier and how K-pop, as imagined Kommunity pop, makes global fans connected beyond borders.