K-Pop interviews in the West
Location
Golden Eagles
Start Date
1-5-2026 11:20 AM
Department
Linguistics
Abstract
My study aimed to examine the cultural and linguistic differences of how K-Pop idols navigate interviews in Western media. I drew upon four interviews, specifically in the video format, of K-Pop group ENHYPEN over the course of three years all conducted by Los Angeles-based radio host Jojo Wright. My background data explained what makes an Idol as well as K-Pop’s specific fan culture. I elaborated on Korean Society as well as their language, highlighting their ideals of hierarchy and social class, specifically the importance of Confucian principles. In Korean culture, deference and politeness are highly valued as it is coded into the language through six levels of speech. I conducted a discourse analysis using Speech Act Theory and Politeness theory, focusing on the maintenance of positive and negative faces as well as face threatening acts. My main predictions were that the ENHYPEN members would attempt to maintain face and wouldn’t engage in face threatening acts. I subsequently sought to understand how the Western interview style may have played a role in member responses. My findings were that the members typically used tactics to maintain their face and bolster the face of the interviewer. Unexpectedly, they did engage in face threatening acts although minimally. The most intriguing one being when the leader of the group criticized a company decision which, in addition to being a face threatening act, violated the Confucian principle of obeying authority. I further analyzed the member translation of the comment against my own to see just how they tried to maintain face through conscious translation choices. In the end, I called for further research on Korean face tactics in particular and that there be more research on K-pop in the increasingly globalized market as my study showed that K-Pop idols interact differently with Western interviewers than they would with Eastern ones.
Faculty Sponsor
Richard Hallett
K-Pop interviews in the West
Golden Eagles
My study aimed to examine the cultural and linguistic differences of how K-Pop idols navigate interviews in Western media. I drew upon four interviews, specifically in the video format, of K-Pop group ENHYPEN over the course of three years all conducted by Los Angeles-based radio host Jojo Wright. My background data explained what makes an Idol as well as K-Pop’s specific fan culture. I elaborated on Korean Society as well as their language, highlighting their ideals of hierarchy and social class, specifically the importance of Confucian principles. In Korean culture, deference and politeness are highly valued as it is coded into the language through six levels of speech. I conducted a discourse analysis using Speech Act Theory and Politeness theory, focusing on the maintenance of positive and negative faces as well as face threatening acts. My main predictions were that the ENHYPEN members would attempt to maintain face and wouldn’t engage in face threatening acts. I subsequently sought to understand how the Western interview style may have played a role in member responses. My findings were that the members typically used tactics to maintain their face and bolster the face of the interviewer. Unexpectedly, they did engage in face threatening acts although minimally. The most intriguing one being when the leader of the group criticized a company decision which, in addition to being a face threatening act, violated the Confucian principle of obeying authority. I further analyzed the member translation of the comment against my own to see just how they tried to maintain face through conscious translation choices. In the end, I called for further research on Korean face tactics in particular and that there be more research on K-pop in the increasingly globalized market as my study showed that K-Pop idols interact differently with Western interviewers than they would with Eastern ones.