Wonseok Lee

Postdoctoral Associate in East Asian Studies and Lecturer in Music

Council on East Asian Studies

Research Interests:

Korean popular music and culture, globalization, transnationalism, musical identity, media studies, border theory, posthumanism in music

Wonseok Lee is a cultural musicologist whose research interests include Korean popular music and culture, globalization, transnationalism, musical identity, media studies, border theory, posthumanism in music. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals, such as Journal of Popular Music Studies, Korean Journal of Popular Music, IASPM Journal, Journal of World Popular Music, and Rock Music Studies. He is now working on his first book project that examines how K-pop challenges traditional boundaries, including that K-pop should be performed by Koreans and that K-pop idols must be human, to see how the expanding boundaries of K-pop affect the way people view the genre. Wonseok received his PhD in Musicology (with emphasis on ethnomusicology) from the Ohio State University. Before coming to Yale, he was a lecturer in Korean Studies at Washington University in St. Louis where he taught K-pop, The Korean Wave, and Global Korean music.

wonseok.lee@yale.edu

Courses

Music In Flux: Blendings, Exchanges, and Cultural Significances

EAST 424, EALL 277, MUSI 148

This course examines how music is transmitted by various factors and how its styles and meanings can change in a new context. Through various scholarly approaches, this class aims to enhance your understanding of the mobility of music and its meanings. We will examine the processes and conditions in which music is exchanged and blended and consider how such “mashups” function as cultural indicators and symbols for emergent and migrant communities. We will also examine the impact of technology on musical globalization, localization, and glocalization. In doing so, this class explores issues of identity, representation, authenticity, tradition, nationalism, and transnationalism. By examining music in- or as-culture, students will understand some of the political, cultural, and social aspects of music, as well as the contextual meanings of musical practices. The class will utilize audio/video sources, incorporate discussions based on academic articles and chapters, and require student analysis that connects music to its context. While this class focuses mainly on music from East Asian countries, we will also examine case studies from others around the world.

No background in music or prior knowledge of East Asia is required.

Seminar

Spring

HTBA