"BTS Is an Experience, Sensory and Imagined" : Theorizing as a Playful Knowledge Practice of BTS' Fandom, ARMY

Abstract

In this thesis, I examine the knowledge practices of the South Korean pop group BTS’ fandom, ARMY. Fans often refer to themselves as theorists of BTS’ content, as interpreting the group’s content requires fans to assume the mindset and approach of a theorist. Thus, in this master’s thesis, I focus specifically on the fan practice of theorizing. Especially during new BTS content releases, fans move within a flow of interdisciplinary meanings and absorb knowledge from a variety of fields as they seek to interpret BTS’ intertextual content. My aim is to understand how theorizing – both as a practice and a discourse – creates meaning and allows fans to embrace different subject positions. Furthermore, I seek to illuminate the experientiality of theorizing both on the level of the individual fan and the broader fan community.

My research questions are as follows: How do fans understand their own agency and role as the interpreters of BTS’ intertextual content? How are the fan subjectivities and self-understandings constructed in the theorist discourses? Moreover, I ask what kind of experiences theorizing offers to fans. What does it feel like, and what kind of subject positions and ways of being in the world emerge through theorizing?

I collected the data for this thesis through a qualitative survey consisting of open-ended questions. In my analysis, I employ a hermeneutic-phenomenological research framework, which has not previously been used in the context of ARMY’s theorizing and knowledge practices. Since hermeneutic phenomenology focuses on experiences together with their meanings and interpretations, it allows me to not only examine the lived, embodied experiences of fans but also explore how fans narrativize their experiences. In order to highlight the discursive ways in which fans give meaning to their fan experiences, I also use narrative analysis. Furthermore, thematic analysis allows me to identify the themes that emerge from the data.

Theorizing manifests as a playful inquisitive attitude, mood, and way of being in the world. It creates a “culture of discovery” around BTS’ narrative content, as fans take part in intertextual puzzle-solving. Fans playfully navigate the network of recurring symbols, themes, intertextual references, and other units that show up in the group’s content. However, my analysis shows that theorizing also creates transcultural online affinity spaces. James Paul Gee’s concept of online affinity spaces enables me to imagine ARMY as a fluid space that each fan can use in their own ways, for their own purposes and needs. Within these spaces, theorizing often takes the form of informal learning. Furthermore, fans use the fandom spaces to connect different knowledge spheres that exist in fans’ lives. Thus, my research also sheds light on the ways in which fans of BTS bridge the gap between formal education and informal learning.