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
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.
