How did BTS transcend K-pop
and move people all over the world?

In just a decade since their debut in 2013, BTS has achieved remarkable impact beyond the music and entertainment activities of a K-pop group. They have succeeded in gaining interest and popularity as an icon of the contemporary global youth generation, not as fictional characters but as real people with Asian faces who are facing difficulties in the uncertain current and future conditions. At the same time, their actions have world-historical significance beyond the realm of popular culture. This is not only what BTS means, but also what K-pop and Hallyu mean. In this respect, BTS have faithfully fulfilled their role as pioneers.

서울대학교 언론정보학과 교수이다. 서울대학교 불문학과 졸업 후 동 대학원에서 석사학위를, 프랑스 그르노블대학교에서 언론정보학으로 박사학위를 받았다. 방송위원회 선임연구원, 보르도 3대학 언론정보학과 부교수를 지낸 후 서울대학교 언론정보학과 교수로 부임했다. 미디어 정경의 변화와 세계 속 한류 소통의 구조를 아이돌, 젠더 등 다양한 키워드로 풀어냈다. 대표 저서로는 『세계화와 디지털 문화 시대의 한류: 풀하우스, 강남스타일, 그리고 그 이후』, 『드라마의 모든 것』이 있으며, 「한류연구의 지식연결망 분석」, 「미디어 콘텐츠의 유통과 진화: 디지털 문화와 인터넷 시대의 픽션과 스토리텔링 전략」 등 다양한 연구를 수행했다.

Foreword to the English edition

Prologue: Out into the World with BTS

BTS as a Lens for Observing the World
BTS in the Age of Globalization and Digital Culture
On the Road That BTS Walks
Joining the Journey That Nobody Has Ever Walked

Chapter 1: BTS, Beyond K-pop:
From the Margins of K-pop Industry to the Zenith of World Popular Culture

The New Order of Global Cultural Distribution
The Idol Systems in Korea and Japan?and BTS
BTS and K-pop: Commonalities and Differences
How BTS Display Hybridity
Beyond K-pop, and to the World

Chapter 2: BTS Transmedia: The Most Important Keywords for Understanding BTS Narratives

What Is Transmedia
BTS’s Transmedia Strategy
Three Layers of BTS Transmedia
Second Layer: The Narratives of BTS as a Band and the Members
Third Layer: The Narratives of the BTS Members as Natural Persons
The Rabbit Hole: The Knots That Tie Together Different Narrative Layers
Jin’s “Epiphany”
V’s “Singularity”
The Completion of BTS Transmedia Via Fan Participation

Chapter 3: The BTS Phenomenon through the Lens of Class Theory:
Why Do Young People around the World Love BTS?

Singing about Young People’s Life Circumstances
You Can’t Live Like Your Parents Anymore, So What Will You Do?
Resist! Growth over Success
Icons of the Young Generation: The Beatles, David Bowie, and BTS

Chapter 4: Becoming ARMY and Being ARMY: They Are behind Every Phenomenon

Meeting the ARMY On-site
Becoming ARMY and Being ARMY
Encounter: Delving into BTS’s Universe (BU)
The Bias: BTS Saved Me at My Lowest Point
The Power of ARMY as Community
Communicating Consolation and Salvation
About the Middle-aged Fans
Learning Korean, BTS’s Language
ARMY’s Taste and ARMY as Taste
Communities of Media, Taste, and Values
ARMY and Fan Activism

Chapter 5: BTS and a New Racial Imagination: How Did BTS Turn Asians into Objects of Desire?

From Local to the World: K-pop led by BTS
Global Pop Music, Sung in Korean
Cultural Referencing Strategy in a Multicultural World
Changing the White-centric Racial Imagination
Racial Sensibility of K-pop Fandoms
Seeking Alternatives between Stereotype and Glorification

Chapter 6: BTS and Alternative Masculinity:
How Did They Impact the Gender Sensibility of the Young Generation?

Male Imagery That Allows Aesthetic Appreciation
Soft Masculinity
Anti-toxic Masculinity
Beyond Alternative Masculinity, towards Gender Issues
BTS’s Body

Epilogue: BTS and Imagining a New Era