7: The Intertextual Wings of Abraxas: Hermann Hesse Meets BTS, Korean Pop Music’s Most Influential Band
Jennifer Walker
Hermann H
esse is widely read in South Korea. His Bildungsroman
Demian (1919) is popular among young Koreans (Kyobo Book Centre—South Korea’s largest bookstore chain—revealed the book was a top seller among those in their teens and twenties in 2018).
1Lina Jang, “Demian, The Great Gatsby, Zorba the Greek Best-selling World Classics,” The Korea Bizwire, February 26, 2018, http://koreabizwire.com/demian-the-great-gatsby-zorba-the-greek-best-selling-world-classics/112148. This vogue is influenced by K-pop group BTS (short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, meaning “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” in Korean), whose album
Wings (2016)—their first to sell over a million copies—used
Demian for its concept.
BTS’s earlier work entwines personal and social commentary with visual storytelling told through cinematic music videos depicting a series of interconnected storylines addressing the darker side of Korean youth culture. Wings continued the narrative in a series of short, art-house-style films and music videos accompanying the album through the lens of Hesse’s Demian, which, collectively, span thirty minutes and have garnered more than one billion views on YouTube.
Although Demian already held cultural significance in South Korea, BTS helped elevate its popularity not just at home, but across the globe. What is it about Hesse’s Demian that makes it so popular in South Korea, and what inspired BTS to produce a concept album about it? This chapter will show how Hesse has influenced BTS in their Wings album and how BTS has reignited an interest in Hesse’s Demian. In addition, the chapter will explore how Hesse still makes a global impact through the medium of K-pop.