Arts & International Affairs: Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2018 | Page 69

ARTS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
of nationalism is not necessarily static nor does it always coincide with national borders.
Even though JYP Entertainment was respected and played an important role in an industry
that has elicited national pride by creating the hallyu phenomenon, the South Korean
people aligned with the people of Taiwan in condemning the company. Popular culture
creates a third space where people connect to others beyond national boundaries, transcending
the binary relationship between culture industry and its consumers.
Ironically, the very process of popular culture that triggers South Korean people to cross
the line of conventional hallyu nationalism, at the same time, accompanies another
mode of nationalistic sentiments whereby boundaries elsewhere are demarcated. The
visual images of flag and the texts of the apology video reminded Korean netizens of
their colonial past to develop connectedness with a Taiwanese K-pop star and Taiwanese
people. The sensibility of sadness stemming from shared experiences of historical colonization
serves as a powerful driving force that connects people across borders ( J. Lee
2017:180). Korean netizens’ nationalistic memory operated to drive them to transcend
hallyu nationalism as a contradictory process.
The ways in which a sense of national consciousness was evoked can be seen in the relationship
between Taiwan and China and between South Korea and Japan, thereby inscribing
borders. Such an inscription of boundaries, however, is neither permanent nor
static. Flows of culture and people continue to come and go across borders in multi-directional
ways, making borders ever-changing. As of January 2017, Koreans visiting Japan
hit a record high (D. Lee 2017). Twice made their debut in Japan by holding their first
showcase held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on 2 July 2017, attracting 15,000
fans. Their Japan debut album released on 28 June 2017 before this showcase topped the
Japanese iTunes albums chart (Yoon 2017). Also, although Taiwanese national identity
is becoming more consolidated, people in Taiwan are “open-minded about how to interact
with China socially and economically” (Lin 2016: 31), indicating ongoing openness
in forging relations with China (Lin 2016:214–215). In addition, while JYP Entertainment
was condemned by the Chinese public, the company signed a contract in February
2016 with China Music Corporation, China’s online music giant, to distribute digital
music exclusively, intended to step up mutual relations between these two companies
and between JYP Entertainment and Chinese audiences (Park 2016).
Conclusion
The meaning of culture includes “contradictory forms of ‘common sense’” (Hall
1996:439). Culture consists of “potentially contested codes and representations” (Weldes
1999:118). In effect, popular culture entails contradictory processes of crossing and
delimiting borders. The Tzuyu Incident epitomizes such contradictions. Its complex
and contradictory roles construct and reconstruct people’s relations with others in their
everyday lives. By evoking historical sensibilities and emotions, popular culture makes
borders delimited and loosened at the same time.
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