The Globalization of Hallyu Phenomenon: Impact on Malaysian Young Female's Attitude and Behaviour

Hallyu phenomenon is a globalized cultural product from South Korea that has spread uncontrollably into many parts of the world, and Malaysia was no exception. With the aid of media and the internet, the domination of its significant products such as K-drama, K-pop music, K-Food, K-Beauty, and technology brands left an indisputable impact on society. Hallyu's wide acceptance in Malaysia, however, received backlash from the anti-Hallyu group who criticized it for degrading the value of Malaysian culture, specifically targeting young females in Malaysia for their "obsession" with this foreign culture. This paper aimed to study the relationship between the globalization of Hallyu phenomenon and young females in Malaysia. It employed a quantitative method to explore the impact of Hallyu on young females' attitudes and behaviour by distributing online surveys to 300 targeted respondents with prior knowledge regarding the topic. The findings showed that the most popular Hallyu cultural product is K-Pop, which consequently further influenced their attitude and behaviour towards other Hallyu products. The success of Hallyu culture among young females in Malaysia owed a lot to the internet and social media as the tools to disperse information, hence shaping their thoughts, attitudes and behaviour on the issue. The results also noted a few behavioural changes among the respondents in terms of time and money spent on Hallyu products. Overall, this study suggested that most respondents have a positive attitude towards Hallyu and that any behavioural changes were still within their control, hence denying the claim of "obsession" and "degrading one's cultural value" as claimed by the anti-Hallyu group.

Pop Masculinities

Pop Masculinities investigates the performance and policing of masculinity in pop music as a starting point for grasping the broad complexity of gender and its politics in the early twenty-first century. Drawing together perspectives from critical musicology, gender studies, and adjacent scholarly fields, the book presents extended case studies of five well-known artists: Zayn, Lil Nas X, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, and Take That. By directing particular attention to the ambiguities and contradictions that arise from these artists’ representations of masculinity, author Kai Arne Hansen argues that pop performances tend to operate in ways that simultaneously reinforce and challenge gender norms and social inequalities. Providing a rich exploration of these murky waters, the author merges the interpretation of recorded song and music video with discourse analysis and media ethnography in order to engage with the full range of pop artists’ public identities as they emerge at the intersections between processes of performance, promotion, and reception. In so doing, he advances our understanding of the aesthetic and discursive underpinnings of gender politics in twenty-first century pop culture and encourages readers to contemplate the sociopolitical implications of their own musical engagements as audiences, critics, musicians, and scholars.

From Boy Band to Man Band

The chapter begins by considering descriptions of aging boy bands as “man bands.” Taking an interest in the discouraging rhetoric that describes aging masculinities as in a state of decline, the author focuses on the post-reunion career of Take That. Two distinct events in the band’s history serve as the chapter’s focal points: 1) the 2010 release of Progress, the only album to see the whole group reunited since Robbie Williams’ first departure from the band in 1995; and 2) the 2017 release of Wonderland, which was the second album offered by the group as a trio following the departure of Jason Orange and Williams (for the second time). In promoting Progress, the group pursued contemporary trends in pop production and musical style while simultaneously aligning themselves to “rockist” ideas of authenticity and musicianship (even if certain boy band conventions were upheld). Following the release of Wonderland, and in the music video New Day (2017), Take That demonstrated how boy band clichés can be mobilized to signal dissent from gender norms. During this period, the group appeared to embrace banality and self-irony as a means for resisting stagnation and assimilation. By comparing these two moments in the band’s history, the chapter accounts for Take That’s contrasting approaches to navigating the multiplicity of meanings attached to the concepts of age and aging, thus providing new insights into the relationship between masculinity and maturation in pop music.

Separating the Men from the Boys

The chapter connects theoretical perspectives on the role of masculinity in maintaining gender hegemony to aesthetic and discursive concerns of particular relevance to a study of gender and pop music. Identifying the late 2010s as a period of supposed upheaval in gender politics, it outlines reinvigorated aspiration for “new” masculinities following the emergence of the #MeToo movement and tackles some of the tensions that arise from celebrating pop artists as harbingers of positive social change. The focus then shifts to issues concerning genre, style, and the co-negotiation of masculine and musical authenticity, which provide a platform for homing in on the cultural mechanisms that have subordinated male pop singers in relation to dominant ideals. The chapter ends with further reflections on the social politics of ascribing meaning to pop representations, which direct additional attention to the complicated relationships between artists and audiences.

Introduction

Demonstrating that gender representations in popular culture are intertwined with a broad range of cultural, historical, and social discourses that shape both their production and reception, the introduction outlines some of the key concerns related to the performance and policing of masculinity in pop music. It discusses the theoretical and methodological foundations that may underpin an interdisciplinary, intersectional, and interpretive approach to the study of popular music and gender, and places an emphasis on grappling with the multiple affordances elicited by pop artists’ construction of identity across several platforms. It advocates for an inclusive definition of pop music that encompasses the range of musical and cultural impulses that circulate in mainstream popular music culture. It also discusses the selection of material for a study of pop music and masculinity, and considers the benefits and limitations of an artist-centered interpretive approach.

DISCURSOS RELATIVOS À CIÊNCIA E AO FEMININO NO VIDEOCLIPE GENIUS

Este artigo busca analisar discursos sobre as questões de gênero e ciência no videoclipe Genius (2018), resultado de uma parceria entre Sia, Labrinthe e DJ Diplo, a partir do exame do binômio razão e emoção. Sobre a metodologia, trata-se de um estudo descritivo-interpretativo de natureza prioritariamente qualitativa. As reflexões pautam-se principalmente nos estudos foucaultianos e apontam que a materialidade audiovisual analisada reforça estereótipos do feminino e de ciência, a partir da dualidade mencionada (razão versus emoção). A partir disso, é possível concluir que, a despeito de sua potência transgressora, o pop music, por vezes, reforça a ordem discursiva vigente.

GRAPHIC FEATURES OF THE ADVERTISING POSTERS OF UKRAINIAN FOLK AND POP MUSIC OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE XX CENTURY

The purposeof this work is to identify the characteristics of the visual language of posters of Ukrainian folk and pop music, the search for relevant graphic solutions for further use in modern design. Methodology.The research method is to observe and compare design objects.The study was based on posters of musical events and folk and pop music groups of Ukraine, developed in different stylistic, figurative and design variants and genres.The chronological boundaries of the study are determined by the period of poster art of Soviet Ukraine in the second half of the XX century and the post-Soviet period of the XX century (1960 – 1999). Results.Features of the development of the visual component of music and song posters of the second half of the XX century was divided into several genre trends in the specified time frame.The analysis of the composition, colors, plot, decorative elements and fonts of posters of folk and pop music of Soviet and post-Soviet Ukraine, in order to identify relevant and outdated graphic solutions. Scientific novelty.The analysis of stylistic features of music and song Ukrainian-Soviet posters according to certain features, elements of visual symbols and graphic components is carried out in the work.Relevant and outdated image-design solutions in the design of posters of the second half of the XX century are revealed. Practical significance.The proposed research and the results presented in the articles can be used in scientific works used with further study of the design elements of Ukrainian posters;in the educational process for the study of case studies.

Pop Music Trend and Image Analysis Based on Big Data Technology

With people’s pursuit of music art, a large number of singers began to analyze the trend of music in the future and create music works. Firstly, this study introduces the theory of music pop trend analysis, big data mining technology, and related algorithms. Then, the autoregressive integrated moving (ARIM), random forest, and long-term and short-term memory (LSTM) algorithms are used to establish the image analysis and prediction model, analyze the music data, and predict the music trend. The test results of the three models show that when the singer’s songs are analyzed from three aspects: collection, download, and playback times, the LSTM model can predict well the playback times. However, the LSTM model also has some defects. For example, the model cannot accurately predict some songs with large data fluctuations. At the same time, there is no big data gap between the playback times predicted by the ARIM model image analysis and the actual playback times, showing the allowable error fluctuation range. A comprehensive analysis shows that compared with the ARIM algorithm and random forest algorithm, the LSTM algorithm can predict the music trend more accurately. The research results will help many singers create songs according to the current and future music trends and will also make traditional music creation more information-based and modern.

The Hegemony of Western Pop Music in Indonesia 2010-2020 Period

One of the strong and real cultural dominations in Indonesia is the dominance of Western pop music. In this case, there is a voluntary acceptance by the Indonesian people of Western pop music which leads to the concept of Gramsci's hegemony. The continuity of the hegemony of western pop music in the country has been going on for a very long time, for that of course there is a need for deeper advocacy of the hegemony of western pop music so that the Indonesian people are aware of the ‘colonialism’ of western pop music in the country. This critical paradigm research is supported by a qualitative approach based on the theory of hegemony and supported by the concept of cultural imperialism. The findings of this study are the hegemony of western pop music that is widespread and civil society, namely, the Indonesian people tend to accept it with joy so that it seems that it even perpetuates the hegemony itself. Meanwhile, in the aspect of political society (government), various efforts have been made in advancing the national music industry; but are still considered less than optimal.