How To Lie Chapter 2 Summary

Summary: Lie – Second half of Chapter 2 and Prelude Lie begins to discus the global success of K-pop. National success was setup with South Korea having adapted a singing culture. Noraebangs are found everywhere and popular music is enjoyed by students pressured in academics with South Korea’s “diploma disease”. To observe its globalization, he compares it to J-pop, which remained more national. He notes that J-pop differs more from American music and there are groups like AKB48 that are “illegible to cultural outsiders” (Lie 184). Japan also has a bigger domestic market. K-pop, on the other hand, has novelty, innovation, and an infusion of hiphop and dance. Lie argues that, just as we talked about in class, K-pop is a commercial business.

This is when, in the 1990s and early 2000s, K-pop largely developed its style and explains its commercial, monopolistic industry. Consumerism is tied to the idea waning of affect, where market demand begins to overpower artistic meaning. Lie explains the music also goes against Romantic ideology. By this he means it lacks authenticity, autonomy, and originality. It is inauthentic because it doesn’t stem from Korean musical tradition and the Korean idols act as puppets to the industry, ruling out autonomy. The unoriginality comes from how much it mirrors American pop. Although it goes against Romantic ideology, it is not to say there is nothing of value there. He recognizes that K-pop should not be compared to Beethoven. One has to let go of this Romantic ideology in order to appreciate

With his success emerged the idol group concept that has made up K-pop. Some saw him as a bad influence since he had this control and influence over audiences that probably no Korean pop icon has had since. On top of this he was the last K-pop act to serve the romantic ideology of the individual. He was the sole proprietor or inventor of his music. This cannot be said for modern artists like G-Dragon or Top, who are backed up with producers, even though they claim their music as their own creation. Someone in class mentioned some differences between Seo Taiji and modern K-pop singers. There was the selling of CDs in a simpler process (less companies involved) and his intention to create his own style and change music. Now there is a path in place for Korean pop stars with years of training, choreography, selling overseas, and an underlying desire for money and fame. We then talked about more about Lie’s book, noting that he didn’t see K-pop in a negative light, but as an aesthetic achievement. In order to see this, one must look past the differences in the idea of Romantic ideology. Confucianism is a prominent theme, perhaps the underlying cause of “diploma disease” and hagwons, and the years of training for the chance at a Korean idol. This could be a fusion of capitalism and confucianism. Lastly, we looked at the discussion questions. Many class members