Description
In 2016, South Korean K-Pop group BTS released their album Wings, which included their hit song "Blood Sweat and Tears." The following year, BTS became the first South Korean artist to win a Billboard Music Award, marking their official entry into the Western music industry. Wings, inspired by Western literature such as Hermann Hesse's Demian and the Greek myth of Icarus, blends cultural references to illustrate BTS' successful crossing of cultural boundaries and the criticisms that come with it. As a K-Pop group and therefore a major component of the Hallyu Wave, BTS' commercial and social success highlights the exportation of South Korean culture, thus demonstrating South Korea's soft power through a transcultural, humanistic lens. The popularity and permanence of BTS' work thus examines the Hallyu Wave influences Western society's perceptions of South Korea and the cultural relationship between these differing societies. "Blood Sweat and Tears" and its temporal placement in BTS' discography also challenges the notion of essentialism within South Korean culture and works to redefine what K-Pop is as a form of media. Through my research, I will be analyzing how BTS' Wings album propelled K-Pop and BTS into Western media and what social and cultural consequences resulted from their music.
Flying High: An Analysis of Cultural Essentialism in BTS' Wings
In 2016, South Korean K-Pop group BTS released their album Wings, which included their hit song "Blood Sweat and Tears." The following year, BTS became the first South Korean artist to win a Billboard Music Award, marking their official entry into the Western music industry. Wings, inspired by Western literature such as Hermann Hesse's Demian and the Greek myth of Icarus, blends cultural references to illustrate BTS' successful crossing of cultural boundaries and the criticisms that come with it. As a K-Pop group and therefore a major component of the Hallyu Wave, BTS' commercial and social success highlights the exportation of South Korean culture, thus demonstrating South Korea's soft power through a transcultural, humanistic lens. The popularity and permanence of BTS' work thus examines the Hallyu Wave influences Western society's perceptions of South Korea and the cultural relationship between these differing societies. "Blood Sweat and Tears" and its temporal placement in BTS' discography also challenges the notion of essentialism within South Korean culture and works to redefine what K-Pop is as a form of media. Through my research, I will be analyzing how BTS' Wings album propelled K-Pop and BTS into Western media and what social and cultural consequences resulted from their music.