Philippine E-Journals

Men & Korean Dramas: The Construction of Self Among Male Viewers of Laguna

Katrina Bianca Lat | Kristine Joy Tacla

 

Abstract:

Television dramas are one of the most commonly known sources of entertainment and information that influence people with stories where certain values and beliefs are attached. Tuk (2014) suggests that Korean dramas are the most consumed and exported source of entertainment nowadays. Korean popular culture is distributed all over the world. Korea became one of the most significant cultural forces in Asia as it was successful in influencing other people through introducing their culture in different forms, one of which is through dramas. This study examined how male Filipino viewers construct their sense of ‘self’ through Korean dramas. Specifically, it aimed to explore the meaning-making and the negotiation of those meanings to the participants and its concrete presentations and manifestations to their everyday living. The researchers utilized one-on-one interview. Grounded theory’s open, axial, and selective coding were performed in examining the data. This study reveals that the construction of self among male viewers of Korean drama varies from emotions elicited, genres, personal views, experiential motives, preferences, exposure, changes, discourse, and acquired values.