만화원작드라마의 문화융합에 관한 연구: 를 중심으로

Abstract

ABSTRACT

A Study on TV Drama's Adaptations from Comics and Convergence of Culture - Focusing on -

Chen Xiao Advisor: Prof. Lee, Hee-Eun Ph .D. Department of Journalism & Communications Graduate School of Chosun University

Nowadays comics has surpassed its limits as a role of humor and amusement, and it has firmly established its role as a site of public information and mass media. As "One Source-Multi Use" has been widely used in variety of media products, comics has been a key resource to be adapted to popular media, such as animations, games, movies, and television dramas. The importance of comics as a media industry has long been stressed in Japan, and other Asian countries, including Korea, have been no exception in the trend. In order to understand the significance of comics in contemporary popular media, this thesis focuses on two editions of the television drama, Flower Four, one in Korea and the other in Japan. Adapted originally from the Japanese comic series, both Flower Fours have gained huge successes not only in their respective countries but also in neighboring Asian countries. By analyzing both Korean and Japanese drama and conducting in-depth interviews with Chinese viewers, this study shows a convincing example of the convergence of culture--through two steps in the local and the global. The results of the thesis can be summarized as follows. First, in the process of the drama production, we see localization of culture where Korean and Japanese cultural elements have been visually integrated into the two editions of Flower Four. Second, globalization of culture can be seen in the audience reception processes, in which Chinese audiences are actively engaged in understanding and interpreting other cultures as they watch the dramas. Although the convergence of local and global cultures is the main force of the popularity of the dramas, other media practices also expanded the effects of the comic-based television series. Among others, well-written scripts, talented actors, and active media publicity are the three most important elements to achieve such a success. Furthermore, depending on their degree of details and dramatic richness, Korean and Japanese cultural representations have been actively re-articulated by Chinese audiences. I have attempted to investigate the ways in which the convergence of culture plays a role in the production of a television drama series, which in turn, constructs cultural perceptions of the audiences. A recent example of Flower Four supports the convergence of culture I have argued in this thesis. A further attention will be needed near future to expand the scope of the cultural convergence among different genres of media products.