Routledge Studies in East Asian Translation

<p><em>The Language of Hallyu</em> will re-examine the language of the Korean Wave by looking at popular K-content. In doing so, it will expose the meanings that get lost in translation, hidden under subtitles.</p><p>Over the past decade, <i>hallyu </i>(the Korean wave) has exploded in popularity around the globe. K-films, K-drama, and K-pop were once small subcultures, known mostly by Korea’s East and Southeast Asian neighbours and Korean diaspora. Now, K-content has entered the international mainstream. Consequently, interest in Korean language has grown, while interest in language learning in general has decreased. Many textbooks emphasise that Korean is a ‘polite’ language, but this book will highlight that this is not the case.</p><p>The Language of Hallyu examines popular K-content, including <i>Parasite </i>(2019), <i>Minari </i>(2020), <i>Squid Game </i>(2021), and <i>Pachinko </i>(2022). The author introduces <i>language stylistics </i>to explain how Koreans style their language to suit every occasion. She argues that they do this via a process of <i>visual scanning </i>and <i>social tuning</i>, whereby visual clues are assessed in tangent with an individual’s sociocultural awareness. The author concludes by highlighting the danger of the <i>jondaemal/banmal </i>(polite/casual speech) divide, demonstrating that Korean language is so much more than polite.</p><p>This book will be of interest to students and researchers in Korean language and culture, particularly those interested in linguistics and pragmatics.</p>