Contemporary Korean Culture from the Edge

This book is for any reader seeking to understand and engage with contemporary South Korean culture. Inspired by the term “edge”, which in Korean refers to attitudes and ideas that are new, gripping and transgressive, each chapter provides a new perspective on today’s Korea.

Drawing from a range of perspectives, Contemporary Korean Culture from the Edge: Transgression, Innovation, and Intimacy examines Korean culture—including food, music, fashion, K-pop, cinema and much more—as a twenty-first century global phenomenon. The book highlights unique features of Korean culture such as the role of astrology in K-pop fandom, feminist art, and recent fiction, poetry, and drama.

In uncovering underrepresented areas of modern Korea, the chapters pay attention to lesser known but important aspects, such as the country’s astonishingly dynamic urban architecture. By casting a wide net, and including bottom-up cultural movements, such as protest art, the book reveals the rich and critical role that art, music, and literature play in Korea.