The Language of Hallyu
More than Polite
- Available for pre-order on June 19, 2023. Item will ship after July 10, 2023
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Book Description
The Language of Hallyu will re-examine the language of the Korean Wave by looking at popular K-content. In doing so, it will expose the meanings that get lost in translation, hidden under subtitles.
Over the past decade, hallyu (the Korean wave) has exploded in popularity around the globe. K-films, K-drama, and K-pop were once small subcultures, known mostly by Korea’s East and Southeast Asian neighbours and Korean diaspora. Now, K-content has entered the international mainstream. Consequently, interest in Korean language has grown, while interest in language learning in general has decreased. Many textbooks emphasise that Korean is a ‘polite’ language, but this book will highlight that this is not the case.
The Language of Hallyu examines popular K-content, including Parasite (2019), Minari (2020), Squid Game (2021), and Pachinko (2022). The author introduces language stylistics to explain how Koreans style their language to suit every occasion. She argues that they do this via a process of visual scanning and social tuning, whereby visual clues are assessed in tangent with an individual’s socio-cultural awareness. The author concludes by highlighting the danger of the jondaemal/banmal (polite/casual speech) divide, demonstrating that Korean language is so much more than polite.
This book will be of interest to students and researchers in Korean language and culture, particularly those interested in linguistics and pragmatics.
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Romanisation Conventions
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1. THE ONE INCH BARRIER
Hallyu Takes the World by Storm
Korean Language Curiosity
The K-Wave in the Oxford English Dictionary
The power of K-tweets
Translation Tribulations
Hierarchical Hindrances
Sleuthing for Clues
More than Words
Book Overview
CHAPTER 2. LANGUAGE STYLISTICS
Into the ‘Language Wardrobe’
Ending Stylistics: Age, Status, Environment, and Intimacy
Linguistic Routines
Particle Stylistics
Interjections
Gangnam Style-istics: English for the vain
Summary
Linguist’s Corner
CHAPTER 3. ADDRESS MATTERS
Think of me as a Friend
Address Ambiguity
Nameless Faces
Address Terms: The Fossils of the Korean Language
Nunchi: Visual Scanning and Social Tuning
One big happy family? Using kinship terms with non-kin
Address Terms: An Easy Remedy
Why Don’t You Call Me Hyeong?
The New Oppa
Job Titles
Director Bong vs. Song Kang-ho
Seonsaengnim: A Safe Haven
Linguistic Injustice
Linguistic Capitalism: Ajumma 아줌마 vs. Samonim 사모님
2nd Person Pronoun Problems
Embodied Learning: gganbu 깐부
Summary
CHAPTER 4. NEGOTIATIONS: A TUG OF A WAR BETWEEN POWER AND SOLIDARITY
You Sounded Different on the Phone
All’s Fair in Tug of War
Negotiation Theatrics
Who Initiates the Shift?
Beware of Banmal
Consequences of the Wrong Tuning
Why Change Speech Style?
Stylistic Shift: School vs. the Workplace
Transparent Language: Speech Style Shifts in Squid Game
Background Check
On the Periphery: Korean Diaspora and Non-Native Korean Speakers
Negotiation Online
Summary
Linguist’s Corner: The Half-Talk Shift
CHAPTER 5. SOCIAL MEDIA STYLISTICS
The History of Korean Texting
The Basics of Korean Texting
Social Media Endings
Stickers with Text
One Decision, Three Emoticons
Emoji and Politeness: Case Study
Emojis and Gender
Summary
CHAPTER 6 BODILY SPEAKING
Eye contact
Bowing
Nodding
Posture
Scratching One’s Head
Silence
Non-verbal Expressions in Orchestration
Moving Away from the Generalisation of East Asian Gestures
Summary
Linguist’s Corner
CHAPTER 7. PRIVATELY SPEAKING
Age Matters
Not Your Average Friend
Banmal in K-media
More than an Ending
The Other Side of the Coin
Banmal in the Workplace
The Difficulty of being a Younger Boss
Gapjil
Banmal Inefficiency
Subtitle Submersion
Summary
CHAPTER 8. FORMALLY SPEAKING
Korean Politeness
Jondaemal
Calling Names
Jondaemal in the Military
Jondaemal in Extraordinary Attorney Woo
De-generalising East Asian address terms
Translator Tribulations
Changes in the Workplace
Summary
CHAPTER 9. INTERCULTURALLY SPEAKING
Diaspora Communities
Cross-Cultural Space
Foreign Voices in Korea
K-Wave Fandom Communication
Summary
CHAPTER 10. WOMEN’S WORDS
A Woman's Work Never Stops Except when Eating
Linguistic Inequality
The In-Law Burden
Every household should have four sons
Socio-Economic Stakes are High
Does Language make Society Unequal or does Society Make Language Unequal?
EPILOGUE
Index
Author(s)
Biography
Jieun Kiaer is a Professor of Korean Linguistics at the University of Oxford. She publishes widely on East Asian translation, with particular emphasis on Korean translation. She also works on Hallyu and the impact of popular culture in the development of language. Her publications include The Routledge Course in Korean Translation (2018); Translation and Literature in East Asia: Between Visibility and Invisibility with Jennifer Guest and Xiaofan Amy Li (2019); Korean Literature through the Korean Wave with Anna Yates-Lu (2019); On Translating Modern Korean Poetry with Anna Yates-Lu and Mattho Mandersloot (2020); and Pragmatics in Korean and Japanese Translation (2022) with Ben Cagan.