6 Broadcasting Eating: North Korean Women in Digital Creative Industries
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Haelin Jun
Abstract
This chapter explores the evolving dynamics of self-representation within digital creative industries. Specifically, it focuses on a case study of the YouTube channel Han Songyi TV, where a North KoreaNorth Korean migrant woman, Songyi, broadcasts mukbang (eating shows) for South Korean consumption. Originating in South Korea’s online culture, mukbang has grown into a multifaceted creative practice, where content creators express their subjectivities while navigating complex socio-cultural contexts. Using a critical feminist framework, the chapter examines how Songyi’s mukbang becomes a site where she tactfully expresses her female subjectivity and North Korean identity. By situating Songyi’s mukbang within the broader landscape of the platform economy, the analysis investigates how digital content production in such contexts requires the commodification of creators’ intersectional identities. While highlighting creators’ reliance on the dominant platform economy, the analysis shows how creative labourers especially from socio-culturally marginalised groups use the platform to compensate for their lack of other forms of capital, transforming ostensibly mundane and private acts like eating into commercially valuable content. Ultimately, the chapter advocates for future research on the digital platform economy to draw careful attention to the interplay of creativity and identity to identify potential inequality in contemporary creative environments.
Abstract
This chapter explores the evolving dynamics of self-representation within digital creative industries. Specifically, it focuses on a case study of the YouTube channel Han Songyi TV, where a North KoreaNorth Korean migrant woman, Songyi, broadcasts mukbang (eating shows) for South Korean consumption. Originating in South Korea’s online culture, mukbang has grown into a multifaceted creative practice, where content creators express their subjectivities while navigating complex socio-cultural contexts. Using a critical feminist framework, the chapter examines how Songyi’s mukbang becomes a site where she tactfully expresses her female subjectivity and North Korean identity. By situating Songyi’s mukbang within the broader landscape of the platform economy, the analysis investigates how digital content production in such contexts requires the commodification of creators’ intersectional identities. While highlighting creators’ reliance on the dominant platform economy, the analysis shows how creative labourers especially from socio-culturally marginalised groups use the platform to compensate for their lack of other forms of capital, transforming ostensibly mundane and private acts like eating into commercially valuable content. Ultimately, the chapter advocates for future research on the digital platform economy to draw careful attention to the interplay of creativity and identity to identify potential inequality in contemporary creative environments.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- De Gruyter Handbooks in Business, Economics and Finance V
- Foreword VII
- Contents IX
- Editors and Contributors XIII
- A Quarter-Century of Creative Industries: Promises, Disillusions, and Hopes 1
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Part A: Work in the Creative Industries
- 1 Creative Industries, ‘Conspicuous Production’, and the Social Life of Markets 9
- 2 From Creation to Monetization: Value Capture in the Digital Creator Economy 27
- 3 Creating Digital Value: The Role of Independent Creators as Multi-platform Users 41
- 4 Platformization of Performing Arts and Streaming Culture in China 55
- 5 Fair Practice and Creative Industries: Evidence from Cultural Policy Lens 69
- 6 Broadcasting Eating: North Korean Women in Digital Creative Industries 81
- 7 Identity Tensions Among Artists and Creative Workers 93
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Part B: Spatial Dynamics in the Creative Industries
- 8 Unpacking Creative Ecosystems: A Place-Based Perspective 107
- 9 Theme Parks as Creative Industries: From Entertainment Venues to Creative Clusters 123
- 10 The European Creative City: Contextualising Urban Policies and Strategies for Creative Industries 135
- 11 Middleground Hubs in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems of Innovation: The Case of GameBCN 151
- 12 Music Scenes and Music Zones: Cultivating the Independent Venue Ecosystem as a Talent Catalyst 167
- 13 The Regeneration of a Creative Hub: Critical Episodes of Organizationality 181
- 14 Researching Creative Ecosystems: Reflections on Applying an Ecological Approach 197
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Part C: Current Issues in the Creative Industries
- 15 The Precarity of Diversity Services in the Creative Industries 213
- 16 Strategic Sustainability Communication in the Branding Strategy of Cultural Institutions 229
- 17 Doing Sustainability Begins with Being Sustainable: Five Learning Principles for Inclusive Gamification 243
- 18 Stronger Together? The Resilience Challenge of Meta-Organizations in CCIs 257
- 19 Tourism and Creative Industries: Insights from France and Italy 269
- 20 Openness, Trust, and Sharing in the Creative Industries: Lessons from the Finnish Video Game Industry 283
- 21 Structuring the Social Impact of an Extreme Music Festival through Its Boundaries: Lessons from Hellfest’s Strategic Trajectory 295
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Part D: Emerging Outlooks in the Creative Industries
- 22 Mapping and “Futuring” Strategic Competencies for the Creative Workforce: A European Outlook 309
- 23 The Impact Challenge: Moving from Output to Impact 323
- 24 Blockchain and NFTs: Shaping the Futures of the Music Industry 335
- 25 Artificial Intelligence and the Creative Industries 351
- 26 Randomly Uniform: Horkheimer and Adorno’s Critique of Culture and Creative Industry 365
- 27 A Performative Genealogy of the Creative Industries and Policy Implications 377
- Index 393
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- De Gruyter Handbooks in Business, Economics and Finance V
- Foreword VII
- Contents IX
- Editors and Contributors XIII
- A Quarter-Century of Creative Industries: Promises, Disillusions, and Hopes 1
-
Part A: Work in the Creative Industries
- 1 Creative Industries, ‘Conspicuous Production’, and the Social Life of Markets 9
- 2 From Creation to Monetization: Value Capture in the Digital Creator Economy 27
- 3 Creating Digital Value: The Role of Independent Creators as Multi-platform Users 41
- 4 Platformization of Performing Arts and Streaming Culture in China 55
- 5 Fair Practice and Creative Industries: Evidence from Cultural Policy Lens 69
- 6 Broadcasting Eating: North Korean Women in Digital Creative Industries 81
- 7 Identity Tensions Among Artists and Creative Workers 93
-
Part B: Spatial Dynamics in the Creative Industries
- 8 Unpacking Creative Ecosystems: A Place-Based Perspective 107
- 9 Theme Parks as Creative Industries: From Entertainment Venues to Creative Clusters 123
- 10 The European Creative City: Contextualising Urban Policies and Strategies for Creative Industries 135
- 11 Middleground Hubs in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems of Innovation: The Case of GameBCN 151
- 12 Music Scenes and Music Zones: Cultivating the Independent Venue Ecosystem as a Talent Catalyst 167
- 13 The Regeneration of a Creative Hub: Critical Episodes of Organizationality 181
- 14 Researching Creative Ecosystems: Reflections on Applying an Ecological Approach 197
-
Part C: Current Issues in the Creative Industries
- 15 The Precarity of Diversity Services in the Creative Industries 213
- 16 Strategic Sustainability Communication in the Branding Strategy of Cultural Institutions 229
- 17 Doing Sustainability Begins with Being Sustainable: Five Learning Principles for Inclusive Gamification 243
- 18 Stronger Together? The Resilience Challenge of Meta-Organizations in CCIs 257
- 19 Tourism and Creative Industries: Insights from France and Italy 269
- 20 Openness, Trust, and Sharing in the Creative Industries: Lessons from the Finnish Video Game Industry 283
- 21 Structuring the Social Impact of an Extreme Music Festival through Its Boundaries: Lessons from Hellfest’s Strategic Trajectory 295
-
Part D: Emerging Outlooks in the Creative Industries
- 22 Mapping and “Futuring” Strategic Competencies for the Creative Workforce: A European Outlook 309
- 23 The Impact Challenge: Moving from Output to Impact 323
- 24 Blockchain and NFTs: Shaping the Futures of the Music Industry 335
- 25 Artificial Intelligence and the Creative Industries 351
- 26 Randomly Uniform: Horkheimer and Adorno’s Critique of Culture and Creative Industry 365
- 27 A Performative Genealogy of the Creative Industries and Policy Implications 377
- Index 393