G5 Project

Overview

  The main goal of this project is to "see how the idea of 'the American Dream' has been challenged and reshaped by global migration flows and increasing demand for social justice and human rights on a global scale" (Kang, 2019). Our group members decided to do a research on the topic below:

The American Dream in East Asian Culture: How it is Reflected and Reshaped

  Through this topic, we expect to detect major problems of the American Dream ranging from global capitalism to 'Americanization' in East Asian culture, moving on to further discussions on how some East Asian cultures can work as a counterculture or even solution/remedy to these problems. Thus, we will do a close analysis on specific aspects of East Asian culture such as franchise industry, entertainment, food, ancient ideology etc. The cultural forms are mainly focused on South Korean culture, with some Chinese and Japanese culture. 

     Introduction

       What is the American Dream?

       In this part, you can get information on the concept of the American Dream that is shaped through readings and discussions practiced in the course. Also, the short history of how the American Dream mindset was transplanted in East Asian countries during their development will be discussed. 

       Is the American Dream an Illusion?
       While the thinking of the American Dream led development of the US and East Asian countries, it contains many irony, controversy, and harmful results as well. People nowadays suffer diseases and human alienation, craving for liberation of food, nature, and return to humanism. In this section we will discuss how the American Dream can be harmful in reality.

     Reflection: the American Dream in East Asian Culture

       1. Consumption & Materialism : We perceive that the American Dream and their idea of capitalism were heavily built by marginalizing other such as workers, women, and other racial minorities. This way of thinking/life can be detected in East Asian cultures as well. '먹방', the eating show whose popularity is skyrocketing in South Korea is one evidence of consumption-based materialism. Dominance of certain commodity brands and franchises is another example of this.

       2. Americanization : While 'American Exceptionalism' was a dominant trend among Anglo-Americans, 'Americanization' became another trend in countries of East Asia. For example, K-POP or K-hiphop have a lot of English words in the lyrics. In variety shows, K-dramas and the beauty industry one can easily find the reliance on American beauty standards. Through these, our group will lead you to the discussion on marginalizing and commercializing gender.

     Remedy: East Asian Culture toward the American Dream

       1. East Asian Food : The American Dream and global capitalism resulted in the development of big cities. Adult diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc. are linked closely to this city life, threatening modern day people. More and more Americans are starting to turn their eyes into healthy diet, especially Korean and Japanese diet. We plan to examine why Korean and Japanese food are considered healthier in this section.

       2. Ancient Lessons : The American Exceptionalism, Americanization, marginalization of others produced problems like human alienation, destruction of environment in a global scale. As a counter-culture, we found ancient East-Asian lessons such as Confucianism and Taosim can provide us with meaningful solutions. Of course, there are limitations in the traditional practice in these philosophies. Nonetheless, if we apply certain lessons wisely enough it can function as a remedy to modern-day society.

     Conclusion: The American Dream in 21st Century

       This section contains commentary on the concept of American Dream and the project itself. Each of us will answer 1) how our topic is crucial to understanding the changing perception of the American Dream, 2) why it matters now, and 3) what we hope to achieve in the near future by conducting the project both individually and collectively.

How to Explore this Website

  If you have read this page, now it is time to read articles and essays written by our group members! Click the three line icon on the top left, which will lead you to the sidebar with each categories in the same order mentioned above. Each categories have one or two subsequent tags in numbers. The order and numbering of categories and tags are intended to show the process of our logic. Therefore, we highly encourage you to follow the order. If you have any comments or questions after reading our posts, feel free to write one in the comment section below each article. We hope you find our project enlightening or at least interesting!