Being San/Dara: Self-Presentation and Flexible Citizenship Among Korean Diasporic Celebrities in the Philippines
摘要
This chapter examines the self-presentation of Philippine-based Korean diasporic celebrities, and how they construct flexible citizenship as they navigate celebrity in the Philippines as host country and South Korea as country of birth through the lens of a single case study. Korean diasporic celebrities gained visibility in the 2000s, parallel to the rise of Korean popular culture. Among these is Sandara Park who began her career in the Philippines in 2004 until she transitioned to K-pop idol group 2NE1 in 2009. Using ethnographic content analysis of Park’s official YouTube channel as case study, I investigate how Park demonstrates Goffman’s presentation of self and Ong’s flexible citizenship as she shuttles between the Philippines and South Korea. Park’s stage persona as Sandara, nicknamed “Pambansang Krung-Krung” (National Quirky Girl) in Philippine entertainment media; and Dara, a Korean with Philippine sociocultural fluency in the Korean entertainment industry, suggests that Park’s more than 20-year celebrity status was made possible through a deployment of flexible citizenship and the ability to perform authenticity for both Korean and Filipino audiences that navigates nationalistic sentiments of both host and birth counties. Park’s performance of cultural authenticity demonstrates how the interplay between presentation of self, nationalistic sentiments, and popular culture help shape successful transnational celebrity in contemporary Asia.