Handbook

Asia’s rapidly changing social and political context is contributing to the dynamic development of popular culture. This course will explore Asian popular culture in a global and cross-cultural context, especially its role in the production of meaning and construction of various forms of identity. You will examine music, fashion, Bollywood, manga, K-Pop, food, sports, and the arts in specific ethnographic settings in relation to 'dominant ideology', ?gender, sexuality, race, and social hierarchy. You will focus on the intricate interrelation of power and politics, and the ways in which popular cultures are produced, circulated, marketed, transformed and consumed by different audiences. This course will offer a critical understanding of culture and soft power in Asian context from cultural studies, sociological, anthropological and historical perspectives.