The writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby transports people into the Roaring Twenties in the US specifically New York City. The times are tough but fun and fancy. People have no cares. They flaunt their wealth and themselves. They just came out of a war to end all wars, what’s the worst that could happen? Perhaps that is another story. This is a book familiar to all. The book that people continue to read for reasons personal to each. I read it for a high school English class and I reread it again because the book talks about so much. For such a short book, Fitzgerald addresses all kinds of issues that plague humanity from isolation to desperation. I believe though that this book could talk about so much more. Maybe with the help of a setting change? It might seem odd to transport the characters of The Great Gatsby into such a foreign place. But the issues they face are the issues of humanity so there is a lot of overlap. Of all the countries in the world, South Korea is probably not the one people would associate with Fitzgerald or his work. It is the country I want to transport them to. I don’t mean that I will attempt to rewrite the novel. I mean I am going to give them a 21st-century shakeup.
South Korea is a country located off the Pacific Ocean miles from Japan and borders the more isolated North Korea. The country is home to millions of people. However, while the population is large, the diversity of the people is not. That does not hinder the country from being a great home and a tourist destination. The culture has become popular around the world as a phenomenon has occurred in recent years. The music genre might come to mind in fact when even hearing the words South Korea mentioned. Called Hallyu, it is the Korean wave outpouring from South Korea to the world. Their food has become more prevalent in recent years too. Things like bibimbap, Korean BBQ, and Gimbap have all entered the US and the world at large. Starting this wave was Korean music giant Psy with his music video for his hit single Gangnam Style in 2012.
The music didn’t quite catch on yet but South Korea was beginning to make big strides on the global scale. It wasn’t until the superstars BTS emerged on the scene around 2016. Their popularity rivaled the likes of One Direction and the Beatles in their prime. BTS were poised to only grow larger. Their fame made the way for K-pop (also seen as kpop), the genre of music sung in Korean, to be big on an international scale.
This may seem like a weird thing to talk about after discussing The Great Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald but for fans of K-pop and 20th-century American literature, this should incite some excitement. While I do not envision rewriting the book in Korea, I do see an overlap in Korean culture and the culture of the book. This makes it easy to imagine a world where K-pop and the world of The Great Gatsby come together. I cannot be the only person who thought of Jay Gatsby while listening to Gambler by Monsta X or Money by Lisa of Blackpink. Even the current kings of K-pop, BTS, have a lot of songs that mean much more than they seem. Songs like Silver Spoon, which is a criticism of the pressure society places on youth, resonate with the likes of Nick Carraway. This is the overlap I seek to explore on a much deeper level.
All credit to the original owners of the media used. I do not have the right to any of the media.
