"Becoming an American Princess?": The Interpretations of American Popular Culture by Young Korean Girls Living in the United States

Abstract

This dissertation was to investigate young Korean girls' understanding about the American popular culture by using peer group discussions. Assuming that children are active learners in interpreting American popular culture, it focused on how they constructed distinct meanings for the significance that American popular culture holds in their lives. In order to do so, this dissertation looked particularly at young Korean girls who have lived in the United States by examining how these girls interpreted, negotiated with, and reconstructed American socio-moral values and expectations that are presented in American popular culture. In this dissertation, Disney animated films were chosen since they are considered one of the exemplary symbols of American children's popular culture by American Disney reviewers as well as by Korean audiences. Before analyzing young Korean girls' understanding on the Disney films, this dissertation started by illustrating the relationships between popular culture, society, and education, popular culture's meaning to and influence on children, and the importance of children's interpretation of popular culture in the field of both cultural studies and education. In addition, it addressed the multicultural contexts of Korean children who live in America and these contextual influences on the Korean children's understanding of American popular culture. This dissertation then discussed three major themes, which dealt with young Korean girls' perspectives of the characteristics of attraction of romantic love, their interpretations of sexual messages and constructing sexuality, and their perceptions of being royals in the Disney films. Finally, this dissertation provided some implications and suggestions for young children's parents, early childhood teachers and teacher education programs, and researchers about using popular culture as a way to understand young children and their diverse interpretations which depend on the various contexts of different audiences.