• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.52
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• pp.154-176
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• 2010

Rooted in the work of Pierre Bourdieu, the cultural intermediaries have recently developed as a focus of attention for the Anglo-saxon sociology of culture and cultural studies. This paper tries to critically examine the debate around the definition and role of cultural intermediaries. It also explores the applicability of the notion ‘cultural intermediaries’ to a changing digital mediascape. In the first part of the paper, I clarify the critical problematics inherent in the Bourdieusian conception which focuses on the function of cultural intermediaries for the ‘production of the belief’ in cultural goods. Consequently, I draw attention to the mediation and transformation process of ‘legitimate culture’ by critics in mass media as ‘new cultural intermediaries’. In the second part, I attempt to constitute a typology of cultural intermediaries, proposing the notion of ‘on-line cultural mediation’ and ‘on-line cultural intermediaries’. I also outline the characteristics of three different types (‘traditional’, ‘new' and 'on-line') of cultural intermediaries. I argue this new conception of cultural intermediaries can help to understand the complex power relations and their transmutation in various cultural fields under digital environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.1105-1127
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• 2022

This study investigated the role of fashion granfluencers as cultural intermediaries in the present digital era. The concept of fashion granfluencer as cultural intermediaries and their fashion style characteristics were defined and examined. The literature on cultural intermediaries, social media, and seniors in the context of fashion was reviewed. Primarily, three characteristics of cultural intermediaries-interactive communication, nonconformist attitude, and aesthetic disposition-were identified and used as analytical variables in this study. Through netnography, 1,452 Instagram posts from the renowned fashion granfluencer Iris Apfel (@iris.apfel) were examined. This study presented Iris as a fashion granfluencer and a senior professional, who uses fashion to express herself and define her identity. As a cultural mediator, she contributes to revitalizing the cultural economy and creating cultural products. Iris Apfel' fashion and style embody her digital persona. Her engagement in fashion activities-producing fashion content or attending fashion events-mediates the relationship between fashion producers and fashion consumers, thereby promoting the aesthetic value of fashion.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.384-399
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• 2021

This study aims to identify the characteristics and meanings that Korean musical enthusiasts take on as cultural intermediaries of musical content by analyzing the real-time conversations they have while watching musicals performed in online spaces. To this end, the 'Live TALK' chat during the 'ontact' (online contact) performance of the musical Marie Curie was observed in real-time and subsequently analyzed in terms of the characteristics of online cultural intermediaries: their owned capital, their mediating language, and their relationship with the consumers. As a result of the analysis, musical enthusiasts were found to possess a wealth of cultural capital based on practical experience and inquiry, and to be utilizing specific identifying expressions in their language use. In addition, they appeared to be interactive in their communication with the general audience, which could be seen in the flow of spontaneous conversations as well as questions and answers occurring in the live chat. This study is significant in confirming that musical enthusiasts are positioning themselves as new cultural intermediaries through their cultural practices: taking on the role of guides and mediators in the online space 'Live TALK.'

• 지역과문화
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.1-29
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to have an opportunity to enhance the role of cultural intermediaries in the region as interest in the cultural media sector increased with the implementation of the Law for Promotion of Regional Culture. First, I discussed the need to pay attention to the local Cultural Intermediaries group as the background of the discussion, confirming that the existing research on the cultural mediation sector was focused on cultural workers in public institutions and government projects. Next, for the theoretical discussion, I reviewed the role of cultural intermediaries contributing to the production of meaning via the concept of cultural intermediaries by Pierre Bourdieu, and described that the mediation of regions and cultures began to emerge as an alternative to the existing centralized structure of cultural production in the context of Korea after the late 1990s. It was found that practices that mediate the region and culture were developed around the group of public artists and cultural activists and the intermediary group played a role in revealing various aspects of the region and dynamically constructing the local public sphere through these cultural practices. Lastly, local curator's cases (Space Beam, Space Imsi, Incheon Spectacle) were studied. The actual cases of activity were analyzed through the cultural practices by focusing on what alternative meanings had been produced in the region and how the region was represented. Each case showed the mediating activity that attempts to change the environment of life while sharing local issues with communities, projects that reconstructs the local professional art sector into a public sphere, and mediating activity that represents local daily culture and form networks through independent publications.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.50-62
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• 2018

This study is to ascertain the meaning of personal media as cultural intermediaries in the cultural diffusion, acceptance, and intermediation for the production and consumption of cultural contents. We examined the case of personal media, , which is one of popular YouTube channel in Korea and analyzed fifty most viewed videos in last two years based on four perspectives of digital cultural intermediaries: forms, expression methods, linguistic features, and evaluations. As expected, results demonstrate that shows characteristics of digital intermediary: diverse subjects without fixed rules, a variety of multimedia effects, colloquial style including neologism and multilingual, and users' high preferences caused by creator's sincerity. Our findings and limitations can serve directions of further empirical researches.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.17-29
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• 2020

This research looked into the two programs There are No Bad Dogs in the World(EBS1) and The Dogs are Respectable(KBS2) that can be considered as one of the factors that changed the culture of dog rearing in the country. Focus was also directed toward the cultural intermediary work of trainer Hyung-Wook Kang and veterinarian Chae-Hyun Seol, and the linguistic texts and visual images that describe the programs were analyzed. The findings showed that the two experts reproduce dog-related beliefs and values using devices such as "serious" storytelling, dog bodies, and guardian re-education. They perform cultural intermediary work in that they create the value of the companion dog culture in these programs and provide corresponding products and services to consumers through direct face-to-face interactions. This study contributes academically in the following respects. First, the issue of companion dogs in Korea was approached from a cultural point of view rather than bounding analysis to the industrial and economic level called the "petconomy" (pet + economy). Second, the concept of cultural intermediaries and related theories were examined, along with how the two experts engender the value of dog training in the broadcasting program. The results are expected to help illustrate the diversity of Korean dog culture.

• Korean Association of Arts Management
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• no.58
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• pp.49-88
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• 2021

Contemporary literary writers engage in multiple jobs and activities in the changing industrial and institutional environments to manage careers and produce literary value. The notion of art entrepreneurship envisages writers as the actors pursuing optimal rewards at both literary and economic levels by applying creative knowledge and skills to the management of career. In contrast, the notion of creative labor argues that writers go through career insecurity as they pursue self-fulfillment through work. This paper critically reviews two notions and suggests the notion of cultural intermediaries to better understand their production of literary value within the variety of relational contexts where they are situated. This paper analyzes the structures and characteristics of a wide range of intermediary practices by literary writers. Based on the analysis, I argue that the autonomy of literary value the writers construct and their status of entrepreneur-labourer are contingent upon the relational contexts within which they practice the intermediary work. I also suggest that literary writers by utilizing a variety of tactics cope with the changes that shape the autonomy of literature and invent new roles and identities as cultural intermediaries. Furthermore, literary writers develop not only self-management skills to adapt to the changing environments but also the collective capacity to cope with the constraints derived from the structural change of literary production and circulation. Finally, I argue that the art management discipline can reflect upon and support the creative endeavors of literary writers by embracing the critical understanding of structural changes suggested by the disciplines of humanities and social sciences.

• Korean Association of Arts Management
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• no.49
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• pp.177-200
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to critically explore and make an issue of the distribution system presented by Victoria Alexander's 'Modified Cultural Diamond' model. Street artist Banksy was served as a single case, and various secondary data were collected and analyzed for the purposes of this study. First, this study examined the formation of the aesthetic discourse and the increase in the value of Banksy's works by the market intermediaries constituting the distribution system. In addition, this paper placed Banksy's actions and works in Alexander's theoretical framework and critically discussed the following three aspects of the distribution system of 'Modified Cultural Diamond': the divorce between artists and artworks by the distribution system; the ignorance of the direct connection between artist and consumer; and lastly the exclusion of the possibility of distributing works by artists. Based on this discussion, this study has significance in making a theoretical model of Alexander academically controversial.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2019

This study is to seek for the reuse of vacant houses in the old settlement of urban area, focused on the Andeokbeol in Cheongju city, Korea. The following results were derived. Firstly, the maintenance and reuse methods of vacant houses are made for a number of house type as well as a variety of locational characteristics(flatland, gentle and steep slope) of the Andeokbeol. Secondly, reuse plans of vacant houses are established for a variety of classes such as local residents, artist and youth activist around cultural complex(Cheongju old cigarette factory), and outsiders. Thirdly, owners, users and intermediaries of vacant houses should find a solution to the reuse of them in company with Andeokbeol residents. And also institutional and administrative support measures are established for reuse of vacant houses.

• Korean Association of Arts Management
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• no.55
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• pp.5-38
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• 2020

This study focuses on the emergence of "hobby-preneurs" and the ways in which they are transforming the virtuous cycle of arts and cultural ecology. The hobby-preneur pursues and expands his or her favorite hobby into a professional job and/or arts business. Hobby-preneurs are the new driving force in the arts and cultural industry. Their activities enhance the arts as a public good even as they build valuable social capital for arts organizations and have a profound impact on supply and demand in the arts and cultural marketplace. Thus we found that by injecting and potentiating certain values that professional artists cannot directly deliver to arts consumers, hobby-preneurs function as major intermediaries in the virtuous cycle of arts and cultural ecology. To understand more about these emergent actors we examine their personal, social, and economic values and how these values guide their arts-related activities and thereby impact the ecology of the arts and cultural sector. In this study we use a phenomenological approach to investigate five hobby-preneurs and the particular ways their acquisition of professionalism is transforming the arts education node of the virtuous cycle in the creative sector.