Hallyu Sociolinguistic Repercussions in Brazil: The Language Uses of Brazilian Virtual Communities through K-Drama Online Groups

Abstract: Hallyu has long turned into a worldwide movement. Despite the physical and sociocultural distance to Latin America, streaming services have promoted East Asian content in Brazil, in particular K-movies and K-dramas, which have become rather popular in the country. As a consequence, this content also gave rise to virtual fan communities on social media. This paper starts by presenting the history of Asian media content in Brazil, which ultimately facilitated and paved the way for Hallyu's popularity in the country. It focuses on exploring sociolinguistic and semiotic resources intrinsically related to linguistic resources available to Brazilian K-drama fan groups on Facebook, including the use of different languages and emojis, and in what manner these practices reflect Korean and East Asian cultural influences and elements.