Black Girls and Korean Popular Culture: Embodying Identity as a Multiple Self through Portraiture Photography

Abstract

Abstract Between the discourse of racial prejudice and sexism embedded in Korean popular music (K-pop) and the racial and gendered discourse of Black girls’ identity, I was interested in how Black girl fans of K-pop perceive and negotiate these two seemingly incompatible cultural discourses. Thus, I led a series of theme-based photography workshops during which the girl participants created portraiture photographs and took part in group discussions. In this paper, I examine their portraiture photographs using Alberto Melucci's concept of identity as a multiple self. My analysis reveals that the girls are not passive recipients of a foreign popular culture but active and strategic agents in constructing their identities, with artistic interventions increasing their response-ability and helping them embody their multiple selves.