Global and Local: The Phenomenon of Participatory Cultures on the Example of the Russian-Speaking K-Pop Fandom

The actions of the agents involved in the promotion K-pop are determined on the local level - their proximity to Asian culture and interest in it, the development of the fan community, support at the state level (through official festivals and other cultural events)). Moreover, the Korean Wave calls into question the idea of cultural globalization exclusively through American culture and thus the unidirectionality of this influence (Sung, 2014). The growing consumption of K-pop outside of South Korea, along with the 'Cool Japan' phenomenon (the official dissemination of popular Japanese culture), offers the prospect of globalization (Sung, 2014; Samutina, 2018). For Korea and Japan, Hallu and Cool Japan are the official national strategies for ensuring the country's image through culture. Despite these factors, Hallu's foreign fan base is impressive in terms of its performance, including in Russia. This phenomenon cannot but arouse interest and questions like what does the culture of complicity do for this? The central research question of this thesis is as follows: by what techniques and methods does the Russian-language K-pop fandom form and transmit knowledge of contemporary Korean culture in general and music in particular? The main goal of the study is to focus on modern research on cultural complicity, to study the methods of transfer and popularization of Korean culture in the Russian-language K-pop fandom. To achieve the goal of the study, the following tasks were set: - to determine the motivation for joining the K-pop fandom and "retention" in it; - small, typical Russian-speaking K-pop fandom practices; - to find out how knowledge about Korean culture is formed in the Russian-speaking fandom; - to understand the role of cultural complicity in the cultural mechanism of the distribution of K-pop on the Russian market. The object of the research is the representatives of the Russian-speaking fandom, and the subject of the research is the practices specific for the Russian-speaking K-pop fandom. The scientific novelty of the study can be summarized as follows: unlike many studies in the Hallu context, this study focuses on a specific musical and cultural manifestation of the Korean wave - K-pop and its Russian-speaking fans. Moreover, the focus of the research is focused on the activities of fans, their characteristics, mechanisms and practices, through which knowledge about Korean culture in general and music becomes () available. The scientific significance of the work lies in the fact that it studies the social and cultural mechanisms of adaptation of modern Korean culture, knowledge about K-pop and the specifics of its consumption within the framework of another culture and locality. The practical relevance is as follows: the work contributes to the social understanding of the cultural consumption and dissemination of various practices. The distribution and perception of K-pop can differ markedly depending on the nature of this audience (for example, in the USA and Russia) (Chin, Morimoto, 2013). In this regard, the study of Russian cultural and specific character of distribution and audiences of K-pop. The study used a qualitative methodology, since the work is aimed at studying the study of the Russian-language K-pop fandom and the phenomenon of cultural complicity, as well as cultural and social practices associated with it.