The Critical BTS Reader Book Launch

November 7, 2024 - September 7, 2024
Mānoa Campus, Center for Korean Studies Auditorium

Bangtan Remixed delves into the cultural impact of celebrated K-Pop boy band BTS, exploring their history, aesthetics, fan culture, and capitalist moment. The collection鈥檚 contributors鈥攚ho include artists, scholars, journalists, activists, and fans鈥攁pproach BTS through inventive and wide-ranging transnational perspectives. From tracing BTS鈥檚 hip hop genealogy to analyzing how the band鈥檚 mid-2020 album reflects the COVID-19 pandemic to demonstrating how Baroque art history influences BTS鈥檚 music videos, the contributors investigate BTS鈥檚 aesthetic heritage. They also explore the political and technological dimensions of BTS鈥檚 popularity with essays on K-Pop and BTS鈥檚 fan culture as frontiers of digital technology, the complex relationship between BTS and Blackness, the impact of anti-Asian racism on BTS鈥檚 fandom, and the challenges BTS poses to conservative norms of gender and sexuality. Bangtan Remixed shows how one band can inspire millions of fans and provide a broad range of insights into contemporary social and political life. This colloquium will feature Dr. Heijin Lee (UH Manoa), Dr. Michelle Cho (U of Toronto) and Dr. Vernadette Gonzales (UC Berkeley).


Event Sponsor
The Center for Korean Studies, Ethnic Studies, American Studies, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Dr. Heijin Lee, (808) 956-7464, shjlee@hawaii.edu

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