Identity and Aspirations of K-Fans: Perspectives from Gen-Alpha, Gen-Z and Millennials of Bangladesh

Traditional or deshi culture was prevalent when Bangladesh became independent in 1971, with some Indian, Pakistani and Western culture seeping in through the traditional mass media (print and electronic). The advancement of technology, initially television, video cassette recorder (VCR), video cassette player (VCP) and satellite television until the twilight of the twentieth century allowed the infiltration of cultures more prominently, particularly Indian and Western. In the 2000s, the internet and social media culturescape of Bangladesh. The youth generations of this nation began to take an interest in Manga and Anime, but more specifically, K-culture. Soon, the ‘Hallyu’ or the ‘Korean Wave/K-wave’ hit Bangladesh and became a youth subculture. Therefore, it is important to determine the uniqueness of the Korean Wave and the cultural identity formation of our youths. Like the USA, South Korea uses soft power diplomacy to disseminate its culture worldwide. Apart from being on the same continent, Bangladesh has hardly anything in common with Korea, be it South or North Korea, which begs several questions. How did the contraflow of the K-culture emerge in Bangladesh? Why are Bangladeshi youths so obsessed with the Korean Wave? This chapter addresses such questions from a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) perspective.