South Korean popular culture is taking the world by storm. International media have hailed the seven members of the K-pop group BTS as the most influential artists of the decade. The South Korean film Parasite (2019) became the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. And the television series Squid Game (2021) became Netflix’s most-watched series of all time. These are just a few examples that reflect the global popularity of South Korean music, film, and television—collectively known as the Korean Wave.

While the Korean Wave entertains audiences across the globe, it also influences how consumers think, ultimately shaping how they perceive the world. As homo narrans—storytelling humans—we are often driven less by observation or rational argument than by narrative logic. To understand the world, then, we must pay attention to the stories that shape our lives.

This course explores core stories that have had a powerful impact on Korean culture. By tracing how these stories travel across different media formats, we will uncover the dynamics of transmedia storytelling and reflect on the power of narratives in shaping our understanding of the world—and of Korea in particular.

About the speaker:

Barbara Wall is an associate professor in Korean Studies at the University of Copenhagen. She has a BA in Japanese Studies and Classical Chinese from Heidelberg University, an MA in Confucian Studies from Sungkyunkwan University, and a PhD in Korean Literature from Ruhr-University Bochum. She is interested in the circulation, translation, and adaptation of literary narratives in Korea, Japan and China. Her first book The Dynamic Essence of Transmedia Storytelling: A Graphical Approach to The Journey to the West in Korea has appeared in Brill’s East Asian Comparative Literature and Culture series in 2024.

Language:

English

Time & Location

Monday, 18 May 2026, 14:00

-1.2009 großer Hörsaal, UG (Fabeckstr. 23/25)

Online participation is available. Please register via the email address: Hojye.kang [at] fu-berlin.de

About the Eurasian Foundation lecture series:

This lecture series is organized by Dr. Hojye Kang and offered within the seminar “Bridging Histories, Forging Futures: Lessons from 150 Years of German-Korean Dialogue for the Eurasia Community,” supported by the Eurasia Foundation (https://www.eurasia.or.jp/). It is an annual program that brings together international experts on Korea’s traditional era, the colonial period, contemporary South and North Korea, and international relations. Each lecture presents key research alongside accessible insights into methodologies, primary sources, and conceptual frameworks, offering a structured perspective on the Korean Peninsula in its broader Eurasian context. The series is open to students and all interested audiences.