South Korea: the New “West”?
The dominance of American pop culture — films, music, television — has been seriously challenged in recent years by the meteoric rise in South Korea’s “soft” cultural power. What America did in the second half of the twentieth century, South Korea seems to be doing in the last decade. This seems especially true for the Gen-Z in India. Of course, when we say India’s Gen-Z, we mean a specific “sub-group” of the generation — the educated upper-middle class. And given how closely the classes map onto the castes in India, it generally means the Savarna Gen-Z.
Savarna literally means the ones with varna, the ones who fall in the folds of the varna vyavastha, but many times used to denote the dominant castes like Brahmins, Vaishyas, and the Kshatriyas, are generally economically better off, closer to the cultural center, and politically powerful group of Indians.
On social media platforms like Twitter/Instagram, one sees the K-pop and K-drama references and esthetics taking over in this “Savarna Gen-Z” cohort. It marks a significant shift in the cultural and sociopolitical landscape. This phenomenon raises intriguing questions about cultural globalization, identity, and the future of political dynamics in India.
The Rise of K-Pop and K-Drama in India
K-pop and K-drama, shorthand for Korean pop music and television dramas, have seen an almost unprecedented rise globally over the past decade. With their highly polished production, catchy music, and engaging storylines, these cultural exports have found a receptive audience in the Gen-Z India that’s looking to differentiate from the previous “americanized” Gen-X. Several factors contribute to this trend:
Digital Accessibility: The proliferation of streaming services and a saturation of American (and short-lived “Scandanavian noir” dominance) has meant that the new generation is looking for something hatke (different). Savarna Gen-Z, being the first “internet native” cohort, and early smartphone access with least parental oversight on media consumption, is naturally positioned to consume this content.
Cultural Affinity: Despite cultural differences, there are elements in Korean dramas and music that resonate with the sentiments of well-off Indian sensibilities. Themes of family, love, and societal pressure are universal, while the aspirational lifestyles and aesthetic appeal of K-pop idols draw parallels to the glossy Bollywood culture, and yet not as easily accessible to the other Indians, thus more aspirational.
Social Media Influence: Platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok play a crucial role in the dissemination of K-pop and K-drama content. Fan communities and hashtags create a sense of belonging and identity among young fans, fostering a global subculture, which maps very well with the dreams and aspirations of this cohort — of belonging to the “global elite” identity. Something that’s not just a pipe dream for this cohort.
Savarna and K-ulture
The term Savarna literally means “the ones with varna”, as in, the ones who fall in the folds of the varna vyavastha. But many times the word is used to denote the dominant (erroneously called forward) castes like Brahmins, Vaishyas, and the Kshatriyas. These castes are generally economically better off, closer to the cultural center, and politically powerful.
The fascination with K-pop and K-drama among the Savarna Social Media Gen-z can be attributed to several sociocultural dynamics:
Global Aspirations: Savarna Gen-Z has access to better education and economic resources, and tend to have more global exposure and aspirations. K-pop and K-drama represent a form of soft power and cultural sophistication that aligns with their elite cosmopolitan self-image.
Cultural Rebellion: Engaging with Korean content can be seen as a form of subtle rebellion against traditional Indian norms and expectations. It offers a means to carve out a distinct, modern identity separate from their parents' generation (the Gen-X and the early millennials).
Shared Aesthetics and Values: The polished, glamorous world of K-pop and the intricate, emotionally charged narratives of K-dramas mirror the aspirational lifestyles and values of many Savarnas Gen-Z. These cultural products offer a skin-deep version of modernity and success that resonates with their shallow lived experiences.
Borrowed Drama and Empathy: The relatively easy lives of India’s Savarna Gen-Z who are the primary beneficiaries of inherited abundance, means vicariously empathizing with sentimental problems of the global elite fills an emotional void in many K-ulture fans. It’s also a counterpoint to the highly individualistic lives they lead ensconced in a cacoon of all that parental money can buy: a group belonging. It’s no accident that many of the K-ulture fans tend to have as their DPs (display pics on the social media sites) K-pop or K-drama personalities. It’s the only way they know how to embrace a group identity and belong to something more than themselves.
Sociological Implications
The embrace of K-pop and K-drama by Savarna Gen-Z is more than a mere cultural trend; it has profound sociological implications for India's future.
Cultural Hybridization: This phenomenon reflects a broader trend of cultural hybridization where local and global influences merge to create new forms of cultural expression. For this cohort, in particular, this means negotiating their traditional identities with modern, global sensibilities. This hybrid identity could lead to a more pluralistic society, although it may also provoke resistance from more conservative elements.
Shift in Cultural Hegemony: The popularity of Korean culture challenges the traditional dominance of Western (particularly American) cultural influences. This shift may contribute to a more multipolar cultural landscape where multiple global influences coexist, potentially leading to a richer and more diverse cultural environment in the elite India - eventually percolating to other cohorts in varying degrees.
Identity Politics: The consumption of Korean content is a form of identity politics. It allows Savarna Gen-Z to align themselves with a global progressive youth culture, without actually fighting to change the society around them. This can be both inclusive and exclusive, fostering a sense of global citizenship while also creating new in-group and out-group dynamics.
Political Implications
The cultural shift among Savarna Gen-Z has potential political ramifications, influencing future political dynamics in India.
Soft Power and Diplomacy: Elite India's engagement with Korean culture could strengthen bilateral relations with South Korea. Cultural diplomacy can pave the way for greater economic and strategic cooperation, enhancing India's position in the global arena.
New Political Narratives: The hybrid identities of the Savarna Gen-Z may lead to new political narratives that emphasize cosmopolitanism and global interconnectedness (while remaining isolated from the larger “India”). This could challenge the existing nationalist and conservative narratives, promoting a more inclusive and outward-looking national identity in the upper-class educated Indians, currently the biggest vote bank of the traditionalist right-wing parties.
Further othering the others: The oppressed castes and classes in India are already not part of the idea of India amongst the larger savarna consciousness. This Savarna Gen-Z cohort, unlike their parents and previous generations, was born with a much lesser awareness of the other India — the majority of India that lives very different lives from this cohort with very different problems. And while Indian mainstream Bollywood hybridized itself to assimilate some of the American pop-culture and thus formed some, however thin, common cultural context, one fears that this may not happen with the Korean media cultural import. This will further otherize an already isolated and disempowered majority, leading to a lack of empathy bridges across these almost disjoint cohorts. In an already fractured and fragmented political climate of this country, this doesn’t bode well at all.
The Road Ahead
The fascination with K-pop and K-drama among Savarna Gen-Z on Twitter and other social media platforms is a multifaceted phenomenon with significant sociological and political implications. It reflects broader trends of cultural globalization and hybridization, while also influencing identity politics and future socio-political dynamics in India. As this cohort navigates its hybrid identities, they may contribute some pluralistic, progressive, trends for a globally connected elite young India, however, it is crucial to navigate this cultural engagement thoughtfully, ensuring that it leads to genuine appreciation and understanding rather than superficial consumption, and mass otherization. Elite India's cultural and socio-political landscape will undoubtedly be shaped by how these Savarna Gen-Z Indians reconcile their traditional roots with their global aspirations, and how they engage with the “other India” with their borrowed, skin-deep new “kulture”.
Note: This is not a work of scholarship or deep social analysis. This is a rewrite of a half-comic prompt given to chatGPT in a weird experiment. The author doesn’t fully endorse his own (and chatGPT’s) ideas expressed herein. The author has watched next to no K-dramas, and has listened to next to no K-pop, nor has he interviewed or even talked casually to a K-media . This is author’s attempt at satarizing the tech-bro (which, by profession he is) tendency of writing about a social phenomenon about which they know next to nothing. Thanks for reading.