folk songs and pop culture

In Keith Howard’s Korean Folk Songs for a Contemporary World, he talks about how folk music has transformed itself into becoming pop music. Folk music such as Arirang became the epitome of Korean identity. It seems to have started with one but regional adaptations of Arirang emerged in the 20th century.

Howard begins his essay with an excerpt from T’ongil arirang sung by Yong Woo Kim. In essence, Howard lays out the trajectory of a simple folk song transplanting itself into a more mainstream culture, such as popular culture. This song, initially transmitted from generation to generation by oral tradition, has now become an integral part of technology dependent media culture. The song has taken more roles such as having a historical pertinence embedded in the song.

Using a folk song to rally nationalism is not to anyone’s surprise. Folk songs embody the notion of indigenousness. You can’t get more “authentic” and “nationalistic” than folk songs. The notions of shared value, collectivism, and homogeneity come to my mind when I think of nationalism. You are bounded by the love of your country, and everyone shares the same feelings. Popular culture has similar connotations, too. The word popular embodies the meaning of universality; the word popular suggests it to be a kind of culture that a lot of people engage in. Therefore, the fusion of a folk song, an instrument of nationalism, and popular culture create a whole new entity. It’s almost as if it’s the ultimate creation of cultural dissemination. It has the inherent aspect of one’s culture and it also can circulate at a fast rate to a large audience.

Personally, I think nationalism can be expressed through popular culture. It just boils down to deciding the limit of to what extent can you tolerate the use of popular culture to promote nationalism. I found a music video of G.C. Hammer singing “Club Arirang.” I don’t know if their intentions were to promote something “Korean.” This fusion interested me because I think the same phenomenon is also taking place in the U.S. Some of the artists (I can’t think of it on top of my head), use classical music and manipulate it to their style of music. Anyways, it’s just a thought.

Club Arirang by G.C. Hammer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHlqzyHQYXc

then there’s this guy….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExcY0_woBpA