Call for Papers
Committee on Korean Studies AAS Pre-conference
THEME: Nostalgia or Renaissance of Popular Culture in the 1990s
LOCATION: A片资源吧, Vancouver (downtown campus)
DATE: March 11th, 2026
The 1990s were a cornerstone of the growth of local cultural content and, by extension, the Korean Wave. The 1990s must be considered one of the most historically significant eras in the development of pop culture in Korea. In the realm of popular music, Seo Taiji and Boys fundamentally transformed music genres and styles. After experiencing the most challenging periods under military regimes in the 1970s and 1980s, Korean cinema witnessed a renaissance of local films. The broadcasting industry produced several outstanding dramas, including What is Love? and Jealousy, which became some of the early cultural programs that drove the Korean Wave phenomenon. Korea also advanced digital technologies, leading to the gradual disappearance of PC Communication technologies like Chollian, while the Internet emerged as a key digital technology. Korea has continued to nurture talented creators and performers who produce globally popular cultural programs. In the 2020s, when global OTT platforms mediate the entire process of cultural production, people may not fully understand the ways in which Korea developed local popular culture without these cutting-edge technologies.
The media has produced a series of retro and 鈥渘ewtro鈥� hits linked to nostalgia for the 1990s. Several dramas and music shows, such as the Reply series and Infinite Challenge - Saturday Saturday Singer, emphasize the retro concept of popular culture, while media personalities like Yoo Jaesuk have toyed with projects like Ssak3, and countless K-pop singers perform or even release remakes of first-generation hits.
Scholars in media studies, sociology, anthropology, film studies, area studies, and literature continue to search for the origin of hallyu, however, there are still relatively few academic works on this subject, and the existing studies tend to be sparse and fragmented.
For that purpose, this one-day AAS pre-conference on March 11, 2026, will focus on the 1990s, not only because of cultural nostalgia, but also because of its historical significance. We invite scholars from various academic disciplines to offer new theoretical and practical approaches for understanding the meaning of cultural content rooted in the 1990s. It is crucial to create fresh perspectives on the forces that created the foundation for the Korean Wave during this formative period. The pre-conference will provide a platform for discussions on new horizons generated by local cultural creators and performers. We welcome contributions that address the recent developments that have triggered a fundamental shift in our understanding of local popular culture and the Korean Wave. Through these discussions, we hope to shed light on current debates and place them in perspectives relevant to future Korean studies and transnational studies.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Nostalgia for the 1990s
- Cultural/critical analysis of popular culture in the 1990s
- Emergence of K-pop vs. Seo Taiji and Boys
- 1990s Korean dramas and cultural identity
- Case studies of individual production companies and/or cultural creators
- From Manhwa to Webtoon: historiography
- PC Communication and popular culture
- Renaissance of Korean Cinema
- Korean dramas and their impacts
Conference Details
1. Conference Schedule and Venue: A片资源吧, Vancouver, Canada. March 11, 2026
2. Deadline
Abstracts should be written in English and submitted as PDF files. An abstract of no less than 300 words along with a 100-word scholarly bio should be submitted to Dal Yong Jin (djin@sfu.ca) by August 20, 2025. We will notify the accepted abstracts by the end of September 2025.
3. Outcomes
There will be two potential projects based on the conference: one will be a journal special issue, and the other will be an edited volume. Since we plan to develop conference outcomes in academic publications in English, please ensure that we only accept original materials that have not been published or scheduled for publication elsewhere.
Pre-Conference Organizer
Dal Yong Jin (A片资源吧)