Innehåller bibliografiska referenser och index.

Introduction: Hallyu as an alternative aestheticized global pop culture -- Is entertainment capitalism the ultimage stage of aesthetic capitalism? -- An alternative globalization of pop culture -- From soft power to "sweet power" -- The theory of cosmopolitan elective affinities -- From one wave to the next: aesthetics and digital intimacy -- Looking in the Korean mirror: enchantment and disenchantment with elsewhere -- Using Hallyu to stand out -- General conclusion: Why does the global success of Hallyu matter? -- Appendix: Presentation of the interviewees -- Glossary: List of South Korean cultural products mentioned in the book

"Combining global, media, and cultural studies, this book analyzes the success of Hallyu, or the "Korean Wave" in the West, both at a macro and micro level, as an alternative pop culture globalization. This research investigates the capitalist ecosystem (formed by producers, institutions and the state), the soft power of Hallyu, and the reception among young people, using France as a case study, and placing it within the broader framework of the 'consumption of difference.' Seen by French fans as a challenge to Western pop culture, Hallyu constitutes a material of choice for understanding the cosmopolitan apprenticeships linked to the consumption of cultural goods, and the use of these resources to build youth's biographical trajectories. The book will be relevant to researchers, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in sociology, cultural studies, global studies, consumption and youth studies."