Negotiating India-Korean Cultural Hybridity in Hallyu: A Discourse Analysis of Film Made in Korea

Abstrak

This study examines how India–Korea cultural hybridity is represented and discursively negotiated in the film Made in Korea (2026), considering cultural power relations and the commercial context of transnational media. It applies Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis, covering text, discursive practice, and sociocultural practice, supported by Homi K. Bhabha’s Third Space concept and Peirce’s semiotics for reading cultural signs. Data were collected through repeated viewing and documentation of the 113-minute film, from which four scenes were selected: hanbok, hybrid Indian–Korean cuisine, language exchange, and multilingual music. The findings show that hanbok and cuisine position Korean culture as the more referential element, whereas language exchange and multilingual music show more reciprocal negotiation. Filmmaker and media discourse further indicate that the meaning of hybridity is contested through production, circulation, and interpretation, while the blending of both cultures creates potential commercial value. The study concludes that India–Korea hybridity in the film is an uneven negotiation rather than assimilation or equal exchange, with Korean culture acting as the stronger reference and commodification remaining a potential. It extends Fairclough’s framework to cultural hybridity and underlines the importance of dialogical cultural communication for transnational media creators.