Bangtan Remixed

Patty Ahn is Associate Teaching Professor of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. Michelle Cho is Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies and Cinema Studies at the University of Toronto. Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez is Professor of Ethnic Studies and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Rani Neutill is Affiliate Faculty of Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College and Lecturer of English at Tufts University. Mimi Thi Nguyen is Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Yutian Wong is Professor of Theatre and Dance at San Francisco State University.

Note on Terminology and Romanization  xi
Acknowledgments  xiii
Introduction. On Bangtan Remixed: A Critical BTS Reader / Patty Ahn, Michelle Cho, Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez, Rani Neutill, Mimi Thi Nguyen, and Yutian Wong  1
I. “You Can Call Me Artist, You Can Call Me IDOL!”: Contexts, Genealogies, and Aesthetics of Performance  29
1. Tradition, Transition, and Trends: Contextualizing BTS’s Gugak-Inspired Performance of “IDOL”; / Wonseok Lee  33
2. Hustlin’ until Dope: How BTS Rap Line Cultivated Their Hip-Hop Identities / Nykeah Parham
3. “Life Goes On”: Social and Musical Space in BTS’s Midpandemic Album BE / Stefania Piccialli  57
4. Blood, Sweat, and Tears: BTS, Bruegel, and the Baroque / Marci Kwon  68
5. Martha and the Swans: BTS, “Black Swan,” and Cold War Dance History / Yutian Wong  79
II. “Mikrokosmos”: The Universe of BTS  91
6. The Platformization of K-Pop: From Weverse to NFTs / Dai Yong Jin  95
7. Under the Same Sky: Synchronicity in BTS Media, Online and Offline / Despina Kakoudaki  107
8. Bridging the Senses: Medium and Materiality from Music Videos to Graphic Lyrics / Andrew Ty  120
9. Sweet Chili and Cajun: Tasting the Power of Language with the BTS McDonald’s Meal / Melody Lynch-Kimery  133
10. Fragmentary Redemptions: ARMY, RPF, and the AU at the Heart of the Bangtan Universe / Regina Yung Lee  144
11. “Black Guy Reacts to BTS for the First Time”:  Provocations from a Black ARMY / Jheanelle Brown  157
12. “Your Story Becomes Our Universe”: Fan Edits, Shitposts, and the BTS Database / Jaclyn Zhou  169
13. Jung Kook’s Button, or the GIF That Keeps on Giving / Mimi Thi Nguyen  180
III. “Not Today”: Geopolitics and Activism  191
14. Empire Goes On: Transpacific Circuits of Care Work / Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez  195
15. Like a Criminal Undercover: Love, Hate, and the Performance of Inclusion / Rachel Kuo  206
16. Recoding the Bot: ARMY and Digital Transgression / Andrea L. Acosta  221
17. Break the Structure: BTS ARMY Digital Activism and State Surveillance in Indonesia’s Omnibus Law Protest / Karlina Octaviany  229
18. From Purple to Pink: The Filipino ARMY for Leni and the Fight for Good Governance / Allison Anne Gray Atis, Noel Sajid I. Murad, and Hannah Ruth L. Sison  241
19. “Yoongi, Can You Hear Me?”: Demanding Justice for #Melisa and ARMY Activism in Turkey / Alptekin Keskin and Mutlu Binark  254
20. “Spring Day”: Nostalgia, Pop Mediation, and Public Mourning / Michelle Cho  264
Interlude. “Magic Shop”: So Show Me, I’ll Show You (My Fanart)  279
IV. “You Never Walk Alone”: Fandom and Community
21. The Skinship Diaries / Sara Murphy  289
22. “Gender DOES NOT Exist Outside of Patriarchy”: Flower Boys, Gender Envy, and the Radical Possibilities of JIMIN GENDER / S. Heijin Lee  299
23. Permission to Desire / Rani Neutill  313
24. Fifty Shades of Butter: Consensual Nonconsent in BTS Fan Fiction / Raymond San Diego  322
25. Bangtan Scholars and the Ethics of Care / Courtney Lazore  335
26. Sincerely Yours, ARMY: Exploring Fandom as Curatorial Methodology / Sophia Cai  345
27. The Digital ARMY-Ummah: Faith and Community among Muslim BTS Fans / Mariam Elba  357
28. “Let Us Light Up the Night”: BTS and Abolitionist Possibilities at the End of the World / UyenThi Tran Myhre  368
Outro. For Youth / Patty Ahn, Michelle Cho, Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez, Rani Neutill, Mimi Thi Nguyen, and Yutian Wong  379
Bangtan Glossary  385
Contributors  389
Index  399