CDSSEA 02 Asianization, Imagination: Fan Culture and Cultural Capital of Vietnamese Youth - A Case Study of K-Pop Cover Dance Groups in Hanoi

CDSSEA 02 Asianization, Imagination: Fan Culture and Cultural Capital of Vietnamese Youth - A Case Study of K-Pop Cover Dance Groups in Hanoi Author: Phan Thanh Thanh This book explores the influence that economic integration, flows of capital and information, the media and popular culture - specifically Pop Dance Culture from South Korea – have had in the identity of young Vietnamese people living in urban areas. The aim is to study the cultural phenomenon of a cohort of teenagers born in Hanoi after the economic reforms of the late twentieth century, and their practice of K-Pop dance covers to convey their aspirations in terms of who they want to be in a post-Socialist society. The target groups in this study were two K-Pop dance cover groups in Hanoi, each with members born in the 1980s and 1990s. The groups studied were, ‘YG Lovers Crew’, who cover K-Pop dance acts belonging to YG Entertainment, a mostly hip hop focused label, and ‘St.319’, who cover all the hit music videos from South Korea in a pop style.