K-Drama Feuilleton

In this episode Celi and Maksu are discussing the action drama "The K2" and bitch about the privatisation of war under capitalism, private military contractors and why their use is very problematic, fairy tales, AI's, and of course the catholic church!Prepare for a wild ride!TW: DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS IF YOU'RE A FAN OF THE LATE POPE BENEDICT (R.I.P.) you might get offended...PS: If you want to learn more about all the crimes Blackwater committed in Iraq and beyond, check out Jeremy Scahill's  work (books, talks, etc...)Lots of K-Drama Love and Stay Criticaaal XX

Celi and Maksu are back from the deep and dark pit of wage-slavery induced k-drama podcast exile with a fresh out of the oven episode on The Glory!Join us for a recap of the drama, a rant on Netflix profit-greedy obsession with having to rip dramas in two parts and such the joy out of life, as well as Maksu's interesting philosophical take on a son who kills his father with too many flower bouquets (WILD!).Enjoy everyone! xxx

K-Drama Feuilleton Podcast is BACK!Strap yourselves in for season 2 with Maksu and Celi - carrying on with their banter on all things K-Drama and leftie politics.In this episode we're discussing THE drama of the summer is discussed: EXTRAORDINARY ATTORNEY WOO. We're talking neurodiversity, representation, and swoon over Kang Tae-Oh.Enjoy everyone!

In this final episode of season 1 Celi and Maksu reminisce about the past year and all the dramas they've watched.  Also in this episode: WWCW and a sneak preview of what you can expect in season two, which will start airing in October!Enjoy everyone and have a great summer (filled with kdramas and ice cream obsvly) !!

PART 2In this episode we are discussing the 2018/19 K-Drama classic Skycastle. Interestingly enough, recent discussions in Korean politics and media focus on the education sector once again, as one politician bribed professors to help his child publish an academic paper that would get her into a good university. One journalist is even using Skycastle as a reference, which highlights the big impact this drama had. In our analysis we focus on the different characters in the ‘castle' and the education system in Korea but also more in general. Delve into the fascinating world of Skycastle with us. Enjoy everyone! ShownotesShows / Movies- High Society (movie, 2018)- Reply 1988 (drama, 2016)Books / Articles - Pierre Bourdieu (1986): Forms of Capital.- 천정환 (2019): 드라마 스카이캐슬과 신재민 사건에 나타난 학벌계급가족. 역사비평, 423-450. http://www.dbpia.co.kr/journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE07617343- Yim Yeonsu (2022) ‘Fake geniuses' highlight S. Korean elite's obsession with top schoolshttp://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220512000619

PART 1 In this episode we are discussing the 2018/19 K-Drama classic Skycastle. Interestingly enough, recent discussions in Korean politics and media focus on the education sector once again, as one politician bribed professors to help his child publish an academic paper that would get her into a good university. One journalist is even using Skycastle as a reference, which highlights the big impact this drama had. In our analysis we focus on the different characters in the ‘castle' and the education system in Korea but also more in general. Delve into the fascinating world of Skycastle with us.  Enjoy everyone!  ShownotesPierre Bourdieu (1986): Forms of Capital.천정환 (2019): 드라마 스카이캐슬과 신재민 사건에 나타난 학벌계급가족. 역사비평, 423-450. http://www.dbpia.co.kr/journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE07617343Yim Yeonsu (2022) ‘Fake geniuses' highlight S. Korean elite's obsession with top schoolshttp://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220512000619

CW/TW: Suicide/Death/DepressionIn this episode Celi and Maksu are back discussing the representation of after life and supernatural beings in Korean dramas, such as Hotel del Luna, Tomorrow, Uncanny Counter, and Goblin/The Guardian Great And Lonely God. They are pondering over how the after life often seems to be represented as a cooperation or bureaucracy that deals with the fates of souls just like any other product is dealt with here on earth. We also touch upon some philosophical ideas behind concepts of life and death and morality. Enjoy everyone! 

In this episode Céli and Maksu share their thoughts on the recent drama 'Business Proposal' with some discussion on Chaebol and capitalist life style, as well as a possible alternative story lines. Enjoy everyone!Note: This episode was recorded in a public park with both hosts finally being in one place, so please excuse all the background noises. Dramas / Shows mentionedWhat's wrong with Secretary Kim?

PART 2In this episode our fabulous guest Snigdha shares parts of her recent research on representation of gwinong / gwichon women and marriage migrant women in the countryside. While many recent shows feature the gwinong women's return to the countryside in search for a new life and self-fulfillment away from the city, the marriage migrants are largely underrepresented and stereotyped in Korean drama. We mostly discuss the movie ‘Little Forest'' and the drama ‘Heaven's Garden', but many other, (more) recent dramas are mentioned and connections to our former episodes are made for example Hometown ChaChaCha, Squid Game and It's Okay not to be Okay. Enjoy everyone !Dramas / movies mentioned Little ForestHeaven's GardenWhere the Camelia BloomsNamchon Over the MountainHometown ChaChaChaSquid Game It's Okay not to be Okay

PART 1 In this episode our fabulous guest Snigdha shares parts of her recent research on representation of gwinong / gwichon women and marriage migrant women in the countryside. While many recent shows feature the gwinong women's return to the countryside in search for a new life and self-fulfillment away from the city, the marriage migrants are largely underrepresented and stereotyped in Korean drama. We mostly discuss the movie ‘Little Forest'' and the drama ‘Heaven's Garden', but many other, (more) recent dramas are mentioned and connections to our former episodes are made for example Hometown ChaChaCha, Squid Game and It's Okay not to be Okay. Enjoy everyone!Dramas / movies mentioned Little ForestHeaven's GardenWhere the Camelia BloomsNamchon Over the MountainHometown ChaChaChaSquid Game It's Okay not to be Okay

TW/CW: Abuse, Rape, Sexual ViolenceIn this episode it's aaaalll about sex and power and politics and BDSM and Michel Foucault and Silvia Federici and witches and capitalism and soooo many other things! Celi and Maksu are discussing the very hot BDSM romantic comedy "Love and Leashes" and are discussing the political significance of sex in a "Western" and also Korean context. Now get your whips ready, you're in for a ride...Enjoy everyone!Books: Silvia Federici: Caliban and the Witch (MUST READ)PS: this is definitely an "explicit" episode

TW: Abuse and Rape Firstly let me apologise for being a day late but yesterday, just as I was about to upload this episode, any podcasters worst nightmare happened and everything suddenly got deleted and hours of editing work just disappeared into the ether. After the breakdown that ensued I needed a small break from editing. But thanks to all your support and compassion I managed to edit everything again and so here it is our episode for this week where  Maksu and I are taking a break from all the shiny new kdrama productions and give some well deserved love to a k-drama classic, namely: DREAM HIGH! Maksu and I try and (let's be honest fail) to give a concise overview of the plot and all characters involved, which is to be fair quite an impossible endeavour. Beyond that we discuss problematic power dynamics that are prone to abuse in the creative industries, we discuss activism around body image and Kim Soo Hyun's 3-Step-Evolution in the drama.Finally there's a small rant on Prussian cultural imperialism and dialects by me, because why not…Enjoy everyone! 

K-DRAMA FEUILLETON PODCAST X HALLYUREVIEWSSPECIAL COLLABORATIONWe are so psyched about this episode because it's a special collaboration with Lina from (you guessed it right!!) HallyuReviews, the coolest blog around, bringing you all the goss and updates on all things K. https://hallyureviews.wordpress.com/Twitter: @hallyurevIn this special collaboration episode Lina, Maksu and I are discussing a very common K-drama trope, namely the “met-your-true-love-as-a-child” trope. Have you ever felt a sense of despair realising that your life partner wasn't among your childhood friends after watching a k-drama? If so you've come to the right place and also you're not alone… You can look forward to lots of banter around the childhood trope and Maksu's Freudian analysis of it.Let's dive right in shall we? Enjoy everyone! Shows mentioned:Hometown ChachachaCity HunterYou Are BeautifulWhat's Wrong With Secretary KimThe HeirsThe Reply SeriesMy Love From The StarLegend Of The Blue SeaChicago TypewriterGoblinTale Of The Nine-TailedWeightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-JooDoom At Your ServiceIt's Okay Not To Be OkayBeautiful Life Wonderful LifeLovely Writer 

In this episode Maksu and Celi review the newest K-Drama "Our Beloved Summer". You can look forward to discussions about what it means to go and grow through your twenties, evolving relationships, and yet again maany many coats (and sweaters this time as well...)Enjoy everyone!

First things first: HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! We're so happy to be back with our very first episode of 2022 and boooy it's a good one! Have you ever wondered how it would feel like to be an actor* in South Korea? Well we certainly have (!) and in this episode we (and you) get to find out everything about it! We had the absolute pleasure talking to Pillip, who, not only speaks perfect Korean (what a star), but also was already on Korean TV and acted in not one, but two theatre plays during his time in Korea. This being THE K-drama Feuilleton Podcast, of course you can expect much critical discussion on the topic of how waegukin/foreigners are portrayed in Korean productions and what this tells us about identity and stereotypes, even Slavoj Žižek gets a mention (cause why not?!).In any case we hope you enjoy this episode, do get in touch with any comments, questions or critique (always)! You know where to find us (twitter, facebook, email)...Lots of K-Drama love and solidarity to you all!----Link to a trailer of Pillips theatre play: https://youtu.be/BVaJhQwc9YwLinks to two badass articles that Maksu is talking about (on Multi-Culturalism in TV Productions and the re-Articulation of the Korean self):https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002114281https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/eapc/2020/00000006/00000002/art00008;jsessionid=90bo5sq49norf.x-ic-live-02Link to the youtube channel that Pillip hypes: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCL_8O4S2CTAOTo7a_KAbJAg

In this episode Maksu and Celi discuss the very controversial Netflix production HELLBOUND. You can look foward to lots of philosophical banter about free will, fear and cults. But of course not without swooning over Yoo Ah-In. Enjoy everyone!

In this episode Celi and Maksu are discussing the current hit drama "Kings Affection".In addition to reviewing the drama as per usual (yes including the category in which Maksu is ranting about what anachronisms you can find in this historical drama - you guessed right: it's football yet again) they'll also be focusing on Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity and HOW AMAZINGLY QUEER THIS DRAMA IS!Of course there will also be much of the obligatory swooning and nerdy references. Until 15:00 banter on ancient languages from 16:00 synopsis of the plot and intro to the drama (banter ensues)from 36:00 Judith Butler and the theory of gender performativityEnjoy everyone!Show notes: Film: Laurence Anyways!Books: Judith Butler, Gender Trouble (1990)/Bodies That Matter (1993)Authors: Simone de Beauvoir, Michel FoucaultDramas: Secret Garden, To the Beautiful You, You Are Beautiful, Coffee Prince,  Inspector Koo

WE'RE BACK!We apologise for the longer break but we're back with our long-awaited first ever GUEST EPISODE. And we're talking about Squid Game! If you were wondering what Marx and Lancan have to do with Squid Game then you're in the right place. Maksu and I have had the pleasure to talk through the global phenomenon of Squid Game with our resident Marx expert: James! Let us know how you liked the episode, lots of k-drama love and stay critical,Celi and Maksu

We don't have an episode for you this week, as we are gearing up for our extraordinary HALLOWEEN SPECIAL, which you can expect next Thursday, 28 October 2021. It's definitely worth the wait, we promise. Until then we'll be carving some pumpkins and watching some more kdramas (as always very critically)... Lots of kdrama-love and solidarity from Maksu and Celi

Today's episode is about Celi's current obsession namely the very popular and very current drama “Hometown Chachacha”!In the first part Maksu and Celi talk a bit about their week (until 16:00 min).In the second half Maksu is interviewing Celi about Homecha, as he hasn't seen it yet, so if you want to avoid spoilers, you can skip this part (until min 46:00).And finally in the third part Maksu and Celi discuss the age old divide between the city and the countryside or the center vs the periphery, in our modern capitalist nation states and the implications of this divide during the Pandemic. But of course they also cover much more important topics such as Kim Seon-Hos and ShinMinAhs dimples, stolen bathroom slippers aaand sourdough bread.Book mentioned: Juli Zeh: Unter LeutenAll stats are from the worldbank: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS 

Helloo lovely listeners, we're back! We hope you didn't miss us last week, but out of scheduling and quality concerns we decided to release our episodes every two weeks instead of every week.Now in this episode we are reviewing the classic k-drama "Reply 1997". We are discussing the depiction of queer characters in this drama, as well as very shady grooming practices by older men, and more generally identity struggles of teenagers. Enjoy everyone! PS: We always love to hear from you - you can reach us via twitter, facebook, or directly through our email: kdramafeuilleton@gmail.comLots of k-drama love from Maksu and Celi 

In this episode Maksu and Celi are talking about the effect of Hallyu on international politics. They will be discussing this mainly through the theoretical lense of Joseph Nye's concept of soft power in International Relations. And also their favourite Ahjussi Gramsci gets a mention, enjoy everyone!

In this episode Maksu and Celi are reviewing the classic Kdrama "The Heirs" or "Inheritors". They discuss the asymmetric power dynamics between the lead couple and the impact and importance of classism and privilege on the the working class hero female lead. Also they discuss the portrayal of US-Americans in this drama and the USA as a place of exile and longing at the same time. Furthermore, hairstyles are (very) critically assessed and the co-hosts wonder why almonds feature so prominently in this drama... Enjoy everyone!TW: SuicideShows mentioned: SkycastleDescendants of the SunCity HunterLegend of the Blue SeaHwarang

In this episode Celi and Maksu review the political thriller drama "VAGABOND". After a brief summary and introduction to the plot, they discuss the drama in light of the global arms trade, actual corruption cases linked to the Sewol Ferry catastrophe in 2014, as well as the US Military Industrial Complex and its relevance to Korean history. Enjoy everyone!References: - Heinrich von Kleist: Michael Kohlhaas.- Shadow World Documentary: https://shadowworldinvestigations.org/shadow-world-film/- City Hunter- A Korean Odyssey - Jim Glassman, Young-Jin Choi: The chaebol and the US military–industrial complex, Cold War geopolitical economy and South Korean ndustrialization; in: Environment and Planning A 2014, volume 46, pages 1160–1180. - Military-Industrial Complex: https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/military-industrial-complex - Corruption Tracker South Korea: https://corruption-tracker.org/case/south-koreas-aw-159-helicopters 

In this episode Maksu and Celi are reviewing the very well-known historical Kdrama "Hwarang".After giving a brief summary of the plot (first 10 min), they delve deeper in the historical background of "Hwarang" and discuss a few anachronisms they spotted in the drama. If you wanna know why restaurants, showers and chairs are a bit out of place in the ancient kingdom of Silla and why Park Seo-Joon's role can be considered pretty revolutionary, give this episode a listen, enjoy everyone!

In this episode Celi and Maksu are discussing different types of masculinities and how they are portrayed in Kdramas. After characterising each type, they move on to reflect more broadly on masculinity and gender in our neoliberal capitalist world toward the end of the episode. Do let us know what you think about the portrayals of masculinity in Kdramas and what makes them so special. You can reach us either, here, over the comment section or on facebook and twitter. We'd love to hear from you!Show notes: - Boys over Flowers- Legend of the Blue Sea- Heirs- Prof Efving-Hwang- What is Wrong with Secretary Kim?- She Was Pretty- Miseaeng- My Mister- Itaewon Class- Healer- The K2- City Hunter- Vagabond- Secrets- Chief of Staff- All Reply Series- Cheese in the trap

In this episode Celi and Maksu are reviewing the famous and much loved kdrama "Descendants of the Sun". Themes, such as whether Korean productions can be orientalist or suffer from a "white saviour complex" will be discussed, as well as the intertwined dynamics of masculinity and nationalism in the military. But first and foremost there will be much talk about helicopters, enjoy everyone! 

In this episode Maksu and Celi are reviewing the Kdrama MINE. They discuss topics, such as motherhood, the stigma around the queer community in Korean society and what colonialism might have to do with it, as well as power relationships between chaebols and their loyal (or not so loyal) servants. Enjoy everyone!References: - Skycastle- Parasite- The Favourite- Reply 1997

In this episode Maksu and Celi give their own personal introduction to K-Drama for everyone new to this genre. They discuss not only the characteristics of production, editing and typical content features, but also strive to find explanations for k-dramas current global popularity. And last but not least why it is worth analysing it in their podcast (and why you should listen to it).Shows mentioned: My Love from the StarLegend of the Blue SeaStart-UpGoblin/The GuardianThe HeirsIt's Okay to Not Be OkayCrash Landing On YouCity HunterStrong Woman Do Bong-sunReply 1997Reply 1988Hwarang

In this episode Maksu and Celi review the historical drama "The Tale of Nokdu" and discuss among other things, female solidarity and the concept of widow villages, kings with daddy issues, and why you should avoid consulting a shaman at all costs! Let us know what you thought of the drama in the comment section or on our social media. Also if you have any drama or topic you want us to discuss, we'd be more than happy to, just drop us a message!Widow village in Syria: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/jinwar-syria-north-patriarchy-kurdish-women-raqqa-a8661866.html Widow village in India: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/27/world/asia/india-women-widows.html

In this episode of K-Drama Feuilleton, Maksu and Celi are discussing the drama "사이코지만 괜찮아" or "It's Okay To Not Be Okay". The drama  addresses issues such as neurodiversity, mental health, and family relationships. Most importantly, however, it stars Kim Soo-Hyun as a male lead after a very long break and oh boy, it was worth the wait! Make yourself a nice pot of tea and join Maksu and Celi on their deep dive into the drama and the issues around it. And hey, even Michel Foucault gets a mention!TW: suicideOther shows/books mentioned in the episode: It's Okay That's LoveHwarangMy Love From The StarProducersItaewon ClassPoseYouAtypicalEsther Perel