ARMY is a community of taste, and BTS is their common denominator. This book started from the wish to apply the perspective of a cultural studies scholar in order to investigate the fandom ARMY as a most ardent outcome to arise from a “community of taste.” On a personal level, the most pressing question was which vantage point to assume for myself. While research is a language of rigorous logic, criticism is a language of warm interpretation―or in the words of Terry Eagleton, “a sensitivity to the thickness and intricacy of the medium.” If research is to approach something through objectivity and tested theories, this book can be understood as a work of criticism for general readers, written by an Aca-Fan (academic and fan) who lets her affection shine through. BTS and ARMY Culture illuminates how ARMY, which is a kind of imaginary community of BTS-loving fans, has created epistemic distance towards standard K-pop culture and cements BTS’ status in global mainstream music via tangible fan practices. To this aim, I analyze social media and online fan communities that serve as discursive spaces for ARMY, and observe in particular how ARMY forges BTS’ cultural status by compromising and negotiating with mass media that hold cultural power. This book revolves around these general aspects, and rather than posing as a work of theoretical criticism, its identity resembles an archival document that captures the dynamics of ARMY in the contemporary cultural landscape. For ARMY, I hope that this book is valuable as a neat documentation of their achievements. To those who are curious about ARMY, I hope that this book can serve as a ‘full-scale anatomy of ARMY.’

중앙대학교에서 영화를 강의하며 영상물등급위원회 영화소위원회 위원으로 활동하고 있다. 이화여자대학교에서 이학사, 미국의 칼아츠대학원에서 영화연출로 예술학 석사, 중앙대학교 첨단영상대학원에서 영화이론으로 영화학 박사학위를 받았다. 단국대학교 영화콘텐츠전문대학원 초빙교수, 한남대학교 멀티미디어 학부 전임강사, 연세대학교 강사 등을 지냈다. 박사학위논문은 “파국과 영화: 21세기 영화에 나타난 파국의 감정구조”(2015)다. 포스트휴먼, 영상문화와 현대성의 관계, 뉴미디어 시대의 대중문화 연구에 관심을 가지고 있다.

Translator’s Preface
Author’s Preface

01 Started from the Bottom of K-pop
Idols and Their Fandom as Political Symbols
Out of a Thorny Path

02 Voting Culture
Hashtag Voting
The Dark Side of K-pop Voting Culture

03 ARMY, the Best Promoter
ARMY’s Strength Made the Band
Hashtag Campaigns
Thread Campaigns
You Stream? We Buy!
ARMY Invasion of US Radio
“It’s BTSpop, not K-pop”

04 Fandom of diversity
The Visibility of Middle-aged and Male Fans
The LGBTQ Community
Bond between Minorities
Learning about Blackness
Appealing to Intellectuals

05 Beyond the Language Barrier
Shaking up Western-centric Language Hierarchies
ARMY Hangul Day
Citi Field Concert Review by a Visually Impaired Girl
BTS Singing in Korean
Fan Translators

06 The Social Expansion of Fandom Culture
The Growth Narrative that Moves ARMYs
Charity Culture
ARMY are the Faces of BTS: Fandom Campaigns

07 The Cultural Politics of Fandom
Fandom and Misogyny
Racism in the Fandom
The Ecosphere of K-pop Fandoms and ARMY
Fandom: A New Force in the Music Industry
ARMY as Citizens of the Neo-liberal Era

References
Author
Translators