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Philosophizing About BTS
"Why BTS?" Because BTS' messages stand on philosophical ground.
This is the founding principle of Philosophizing About BTS, author Cha Min-joo's thorough exploration of BTS' messages through the lenses of 20 great names in philosophy, including Nietzsche, Hegel, Deleuze, and Adorno.
1. BTS are known as the Zarathustra of the 21st century. Their young spirits help shed light on such issues as consumption-oriented culture, the shackling of youth to the status quo, the modern dichotomy of classes (those born with a silver spoon and those without), and the system that refuses to allow young people to break out of the social system and become the owners of their own lives. This book uses the great thinkers of our time—John Rawls, Hannah Arendt, Maurizio Lazzarato, and Hans Peter Martin, among others—to illuminate the messages BTS put forth in their music.
2. Since their inception, BTS have been singing of the importance of having not only a dream, but the courage to grasp it. This book examines BTS' messages encouraging young people to examine the dreams they hold in their hearts. It draws parallels between BTS' messages and the philosophies of thinkers like Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Eric Hoffer, and Krishnamurti.
3. To young people, the world can be an unfair and disinterested place. Youth sacrifice their 'today' for a tomorrow that never seems to arrive and ignore their own innermost turmoil in pursuit of an ephemeral and impossible standard of beauty. Philosophizing About BTS takes a close, intimate look at the consolations BTS provides to dispirited and fragile young souls.
Reviews
"This book exposes the philosophical ideas of the young generation in upbeat manner, challenging the notion that philosophical talk must be serious… The author guides us toward a fresh, new angle on BTS' lyrics and away from exhausting philosophical overinterpretation. Rather than advocating vague optimistic views, this book delivers a message of hope that empowers the reader to rise from overconsumption, discrimination by differentiation and academic credentials, indifference, and social violence. Above all, it is easy and fun to read, but never light." – Lim Jin-mo, music commentator
Soon after its release, Philosophizing About BTS ranked second in weekly sales and first in daily sales on Aladin, a Korean online bookseller. Just 15 days after its release, it had already finished a third round of printing. Furthermore, Philosophizing About BTS remained in the weekly top 20 humanities best-sellers list at Korean major bookstores such as Kyobo. – Kyunghyang Shinmun, Korean daily newspaper
"Since the release of Philosophizing About BTS, bold attempts have been made to read K-pop from the perspective of its relationship to social structure. Humanistic approaches have been made, and are still being made, to understand the implications of K-pop bands' lyrics, performances, and methods of communication with their fans." – Sohn Min-kyu, merchandiser for online bookseller Yes24
"In some respects, BTS' messages may be more powerful than Hermann Hesse’s words. In consideration of that point, the author summons various thinkers and philosophers including Friedrich Nietzsche, Soren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger, and Eric Hoffer and compares their messages with BTS'. Finally, she guides readers to an understanding of why BTS enjoys such a great level of popularity today and why people keep listening to them." – Munhwa Ilbo, Korean daily newspaper
#1 at Aladdin
#2 at Yes24
#3 month Bestseller at Kyobo book store
This is the founding principle of Philosophizing About BTS, author Cha Min-joo's thorough exploration of BTS' messages through the lenses of 20 great names in philosophy, including Nietzsche, Hegel, Deleuze, and Adorno.
1. BTS are known as the Zarathustra of the 21st century. Their young spirits help shed light on such issues as consumption-oriented culture, the shackling of youth to the status quo, the modern dichotomy of classes (those born with a silver spoon and those without), and the system that refuses to allow young people to break out of the social system and become the owners of their own lives. This book uses the great thinkers of our time—John Rawls, Hannah Arendt, Maurizio Lazzarato, and Hans Peter Martin, among others—to illuminate the messages BTS put forth in their music.
2. Since their inception, BTS have been singing of the importance of having not only a dream, but the courage to grasp it. This book examines BTS' messages encouraging young people to examine the dreams they hold in their hearts. It draws parallels between BTS' messages and the philosophies of thinkers like Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Eric Hoffer, and Krishnamurti.
3. To young people, the world can be an unfair and disinterested place. Youth sacrifice their 'today' for a tomorrow that never seems to arrive and ignore their own innermost turmoil in pursuit of an ephemeral and impossible standard of beauty. Philosophizing About BTS takes a close, intimate look at the consolations BTS provides to dispirited and fragile young souls.
Reviews
"This book exposes the philosophical ideas of the young generation in upbeat manner, challenging the notion that philosophical talk must be serious… The author guides us toward a fresh, new angle on BTS' lyrics and away from exhausting philosophical overinterpretation. Rather than advocating vague optimistic views, this book delivers a message of hope that empowers the reader to rise from overconsumption, discrimination by differentiation and academic credentials, indifference, and social violence. Above all, it is easy and fun to read, but never light." – Lim Jin-mo, music commentator
Soon after its release, Philosophizing About BTS ranked second in weekly sales and first in daily sales on Aladin, a Korean online bookseller. Just 15 days after its release, it had already finished a third round of printing. Furthermore, Philosophizing About BTS remained in the weekly top 20 humanities best-sellers list at Korean major bookstores such as Kyobo. – Kyunghyang Shinmun, Korean daily newspaper
"Since the release of Philosophizing About BTS, bold attempts have been made to read K-pop from the perspective of its relationship to social structure. Humanistic approaches have been made, and are still being made, to understand the implications of K-pop bands' lyrics, performances, and methods of communication with their fans." – Sohn Min-kyu, merchandiser for online bookseller Yes24
"In some respects, BTS' messages may be more powerful than Hermann Hesse’s words. In consideration of that point, the author summons various thinkers and philosophers including Friedrich Nietzsche, Soren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger, and Eric Hoffer and compares their messages with BTS'. Finally, she guides readers to an understanding of why BTS enjoys such a great level of popularity today and why people keep listening to them." – Munhwa Ilbo, Korean daily newspaper
#1 at Aladdin
#2 at Yes24
#3 month Bestseller at Kyobo book store
- GenresNonfiction
194 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 28, 2020
23 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 19, 2020
Este breve libro intenta comparar los mensajes que BTS da en diversas de sus canciones con los pensamientos de varios filósofos desde Nietzche (quien es mas similar a las teorías y filosofías de BTS) hasta Hegel, Spinoza, Deleuze y Adorno. También intenta razonar las diferencias entre BTS y otros grupos de idols coreanos, no en términos de formula y éxito sino en términos diferenciales en letras y pensamientos.
June 13, 2020
It feels wrong to be reading anything but anti-racist work. I took a step back from reading to evaluate what kind of content I was reading aka what ideologies I was feeding into. There’s always more to be done.
That being said this poor book has been waiting for me to finish it. It’s BTS’ anniversary so it feels right. Also Juneteenth!! Important times my friends...
That being said this poor book has been waiting for me to finish it. It’s BTS’ anniversary so it feels right. Also Juneteenth!! Important times my friends...
December 14, 2023
there's a passage in here discussing yoongi and it's stuck to me permanently
January 11, 2024
¡Primer libro del año terminado! 💖
Fue una grata sorpresa iniciar con este libro ya que creí que serían otros (vienen en puerta esas reseñas)
Sobre “Filosofando.BTS”, es agradable leer la mezcla de títulos de canciones, frases de los artistas, frases de filósofos y títulos de libros.
Al inicio la autora menciona que la finalidad de este libro es que más personas se interesen por la filosofía (especialmente las juventudes) y eso haría un cambio.
Llega un punto donde se desconoce si las referencias a BTS son para comprender a la filosofía o las referencias de filosofía se usan para comprender a BTS. Y eso me encantó.
La figura del filósofo,comunicación, sociedad la transforma de una manera grata y comprensiva. Rompe el esquema de “la filosofía es exclusiva, imposible y compleja” siendo entonces, incluida en lo cotidiano, en el día a día porque la vida es “compleja”
Como alguien que se interesó por esta banda debido a su relación con la literatura, mensajes en la ONU y referencias filosóficas, sin duda se lo recomendaría a alguien tentado a conocer la banda.
Y como ARMY, hay muchas cosas que se conocen y son bien sabidas en el fandom, sin embargo complementan y atribuyen a la admiración que les tengo 🤍
Fue una grata sorpresa iniciar con este libro ya que creí que serían otros (vienen en puerta esas reseñas)
Sobre “Filosofando.BTS”, es agradable leer la mezcla de títulos de canciones, frases de los artistas, frases de filósofos y títulos de libros.
Al inicio la autora menciona que la finalidad de este libro es que más personas se interesen por la filosofía (especialmente las juventudes) y eso haría un cambio.
Llega un punto donde se desconoce si las referencias a BTS son para comprender a la filosofía o las referencias de filosofía se usan para comprender a BTS. Y eso me encantó.
La figura del filósofo,comunicación, sociedad la transforma de una manera grata y comprensiva. Rompe el esquema de “la filosofía es exclusiva, imposible y compleja” siendo entonces, incluida en lo cotidiano, en el día a día porque la vida es “compleja”
Como alguien que se interesó por esta banda debido a su relación con la literatura, mensajes en la ONU y referencias filosóficas, sin duda se lo recomendaría a alguien tentado a conocer la banda.
Y como ARMY, hay muchas cosas que se conocen y son bien sabidas en el fandom, sin embargo complementan y atribuyen a la admiración que les tengo 🤍
October 12, 2021
buen libro. aunque creo que pudo dar para más los temas que mencionó la autora.
December 11, 2021
Review coming up
February 14, 2025
If you are an ARMY, you should to read this book!!💜✨️
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews