KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media by MCrush

CRUSH.

K-POP Fandom in the Media Be amazed by the power fans have.

…/GIRLS’ GENERATION/BIGBANG/EXO/2NE1/HYUNA/BTS/F(X)/APINK/SHINEE/GIRLS’ DAY/SISTAR/BEAST/…

Welcome   So you love K-pop. You buy posters; you go to concerts; you kiss your idol lover every night before you go to sleep. No problem at all. Go ahead and pursue your love. But one thing to remember - When you stare obsessively at your idol day and night, there are people who are paying attention to YOU.

So you don’t know much/ anything about K-pop. You’ve never heard about Girls’ Generation, EXO, or Bigbang; you have no idea what “bias” means in K-pop; you don’t know what K-pop fans do in their daily life. No problem at all. Learn about K-pop and its fandom today through this magazine.

So you hate K-pop.

You think that buying posters is silly; you think going to concerts are childish; you think kissing virtual people is stupid. No problem at all. Go ahead and follow your heart. But one thing to remember - Always ask yourself: Why do I hate k-pop? If you not yet have an answer, why don’t you take a look at what some other people think?

Look forward to readubg TEXTUAL ANALYSES on 3 text types: 1.

Feature Article: Finding Perspectives in the K-pop Fandom from

Blog Post: Exo Fan Stampede from

YAHOO! ANSWERS page: Why are K-pop fans so crazy? from

Also enjoy the pictures of popular K-pop idols!

Have fun! KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

1. Feature Article

“After all, it’s just pop music.” My bias is hotter than yours. Excuse me? What did you just say?

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

What? ‘Finding perspective in the K-pop fandom’ is a feature article written by Sasha and published on June 10th, 2013 in an online magazine called Beyond Hallyu. The article comments on the current phenomenon of the rising k-pop fandom and reveals the unfriendliness and bitterness between fan groups. The author aims to give information on the possible causes of arguments among k-pop fan groups and share and express her perspective that fans should not argue with each other hurtfully over meaningless issues. To achieve this aim, the blogger applies structural conventions such as use of pictures and quotations, as well as stylistic features including rhetorical questions, profanity, abbreviation, and analogy.

Taeyeon

For whom? The intended audience of this blog post is believed to be people who know about Korean pop culture. The article includes exclusive words such as “EXO”, which is the name of Korean celebrity group, without explaining the term. The author assumes that the audiences know this word, and thus makes the post exclusive to people who know about Korean pop. Also, there are words in the article that contain a special meaning in Korean pop culture. For instance, the word “bias” usually refers to one’s preference towards something, but when talking about Korean culture, it specifically stands for a fan’s favorite member in a particular idol group. If the reader does not know enough about Korean culture, he or she may easily be confused by the use of the word. Again, the author assumes that the readers have enough understanding of the word when talking about Korean culture, which excludes people who do not. Furthermore, the blogger also assumes that the audiences have substantial knowledge regarding famous Korean people and the issues that have happened. For example, when the author comments “in a couple of years’ time it’s likely they won’t look the same way anyway”, she adds “not going to point out anyone *cough cough* Park Bom”. She is assuming that readers know about the plastic surgeries famous Korean star Park Bom had and how they enormously changed her appearance. However, this may be difficult for readers who do not have any prior knowledge about Korean pop culture to understand.

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

How? Structurally? Although the nature of this article is considered to be a feature article, the overall structure is similar to that of an opinion column. That is, instead of containing a clear introduction that explains the main ideas in the article, it has a hook. In the hook, the author discusses the peacefulness among fans groups on Facebook, and leads to the statement that not all online discussions are harmonious like that. By relating to the famous social network Facebook, the author could connect to readers better and therefore attract more readers to share her opinions. Another feature, pictures, also helps to make this article more appealing. Under the headline, there is a big picture demonstrating k-pop fandom. The picture shows the fans of a famous Korean idol group at a concert. The colorfulness and large number of people in this picture not only relates perfectly to the headline “Finding perspective in the K-pop fandom”, but also intrigues the readers to read the article. Besides attracting readers, the pictures used in the post have other functions including providing humor and supporting the authors’ points. As an example, the author adds a picture beside the paragraph where she states that “if someone dares to speak out or voice their opinions on a particular subject they will become a target for fans and be subjected to hate fuelled behaviour”. This picture is a screenshot from a Korean drama that talks about k-pop, and in this specific scene, the fan groups of two rival idol groups are sitting on the ground looking antagonistically towards each other. The content of the picture aligns with the author’s statement and even helps to demonstrate the fan argument in an exaggerated, dramatic, and thus humorous way. Meanwhile, this also shows the authors’ opinion that fandom arguments over small issues are as ludicrous as the fan groups in the picture. Further, as the intended audiences of this article are people who know about k-pop, from the clothes fans wear and the balloons they hold in the picture, they would recognize what this picture is about. That’s why when readers see the picture, they would likely also sense the absurdity of the fan groups in the picture and thus relate this absurdity to the fandom arguments that the author is talking about. Thereby, readers can understand the authors’ opinion more effectively.

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

How? Stylistically? Besides formal features, the author also applies stylistic features such as frequent changes in point of view, conversational diction, rhetorical questions, analogy, and anecdote. These features help to set up a personal, subjective, but confident tone for this article in order to fulfil the author’s aim to express ideas. The diction of the article contributes to the tone of the article because of the use of profanity, conversational sentence starters, and use of words such as “all” and “no”. For instance, the author often starts sentences with words like “You see” and “So”, which are informal and imitate the conversations in real life, thus making this article a platform for her to speak to readers about her opinions. This not only contributes to the subjective tone of this article, but also more importantly shortens the distance between the readers and her. In this way, her opinion of which k-pop fans’ arguments are meaningless is more effectively understood by the audience. The use of profanity in the article has similar effects. When revealing the absurdity of the topics that k-pop fans argue about, she calls the topics “bullshit”, which could be considered offensive. Nevertheless, with this strong emotion, the author is able to express her idea and criticize the meaninglessness of arguments between k-pop fans with certainty. The extent of certainty is enhanced with use of words such as “all” and “no” within the sentences. Rather than only saying “bullshit”, the author writes “all bullshit”; and rather than saying “many people don’t care”, she writes “nobody cares”. Although the author does not have substantial data or logic to show readers that these definite, declarative statements are all correct, readers can sense the authors’ certainty and confidence in her opinion, which thus also makes authors’ words convincing to them, though this may not be the primary goal of this article.

Girls’ Generation

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

EXO

Another stylistic feature of this article that helps the author to express her opinions is anecdotes. The anecdotes in this article can be divided into two types, current events and personal experiences, and both of them help support the authors’ statements. For instance, after stating the opinion that “if someone dares to speak out or voice their opinions on a particular subject they will become a target for fans and be subjected to hate fuelled behavior”, she uses both types of anecdotes to support this point. She cites a current argument involving death threats, which happened because a fan of a popular idol group admitted that she did not know one of the members’ birthday. From this real and current event, the author shows an example of how a minor issue could lead to an argument between k-pop fans and supports her opinion that the arguments are pointless. Besides current events, the author also shares her personal experience about seeing k-pop fans arguing over meaningless issues on Facebook. When sharing personal experiences, the author makes frequent changes between first person point of view “I” and second person point of view “you” throughout the article. The author starts by directly addressing her experience in first person point of view, starting sentences with “I, myself”, which contributes to the personal tone. She then shifts to second person point of view and tries to lead the readers to the situation she had experienced by using “you” to tell them to imagine themselves as k-pop fans. By doing this, the author not only states her idea that k-pop fans often argue over minor issues, but also successfully makes the readers experience and understand her feelings. Thereby, the idea is expressed more effectively and somehow has the extensive effect of persuading the readers to hold opinions similar to hers.

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

The other key stylistic feature involved in this article is rhetorical questions. Rhetorical questions in this article can be mainly found near the last paragraph where the author emphasizes her ideas and further extend to how the topic can be transformed into actions in real life. For example: “Spare a thought for the feelings of others. Would you really like some of the things you say to others to be said back to you? Yes from time to time people’s opinions will conflict with yours but is it not better to be at peace with fellow K-pop fans?” In this section, the author is triggering the k-pop fans to reflect and to communicate peacefully with each other. By the use of rhetorical questions, the author demonstrates how she thinks that k-pop fans should “Spare a thought for the feelings of others” and communicate peacefully with each other. By the frequent use of “you”, the author again makes the readers feel like that the author is talking to and educating them in person and thus would more actively reflect on her opinion, which may then lead them to peaceful communications next time.

Super Junior

So? In conclusion, the article ‘Finding perspective in the K-pop fandom’ written by Sasha and published in Beyond Hallyu responds to fan behavior in the k-pop fandom. Through the use of stylistic features and structural conventions, the author reveals the absurdity behind k-pop fandom arguments, effectively expresses her perspective that fans should not argue with each other hurtfully over meaningless issues, and attempts to persuade readers to accept and agree with her opinions.

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

2. Blog Post “How in the hell does that make any sense.” That criminal is a fan of XXX. Shame on all XXX fans.

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

â&#x20AC;Š

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

What? ‘Exo fan Stampede’ is an anonymous blog post published in 2014 on “WTF KPOP FANDOM” blog. The blog post comments on three fans’ reactions towards a current event where a girl in a fan crowd attacked a photographer. The post aims to criticize k-pop fans’ rabid reactions toward this event and to help the blogger express his or her opinion that this event was no more than a recording of moment in that fan’s life, and persuade the reader that the fans are rabid. To achieve this purpose, the blogger applies structural conventions such as the use of pictures and quotations, as well as stylistic features including rhetorical questions, profanity, abbreviation, and analogy.

f(x)

For whom? The intended audience of this blog post is believed to be people who know about Korean pop culture and perhaps follow it on social media. The post includes exclusive words such as “exotic”, which is the name of fans of a Korean male group called EXO, without explaining the term. The blogger assumes that the audiences know this word, and thus makes the post exclusive to people who do not know much about Korean pop. Besides, the blogger also assumes that the audiences have substantial knowledge regarding the fan group of EXO. For example, when the blogger rephrases one of the fans’ quotations, he/she writes “BLAME HER FOR EXOTICS’ BAD REP”, which implies the fact that fans of EXO have a bad reputation among fan groups of Korean pop. However, this may be difficult for audiences who do not have any prior knowledge about Korean pop culture to understand.

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

How? Structurally? The formal features used in this blog include pictures and quotations. The use of pictures in this blog post serve to create an appealing title. On the title, there are photos of three famous Korean pop stars. Because of the central location and the big sizes of the photo, readers would be easily attracted by their popularity. The title is made more appealing with the contrast between the black-and-white color of the star photos and the bright yellow acronym “WTF”. The large contrast in color helps the profanity stand out and emphasizes the purpose of the blog, which is to criticize Korean fandom. The blogger quotes three fans’ reactions towards the current event, each representing a unique perspective. By attaching the quotations using pictures instead of indirectly quoting, audiences can be sure that the blogger is not exaggerating the fans’ reactions. Audiences are then more likely to accept and thereby be persuaded by the blogger’s comments on the quotations. Also, by showing how the fans structure their comments, fans’ emotions are revealed more clearly to the audiences. For instance, on the second picture of fans’ quotation, the fan capitalized “THANKS TO YOU” ironically to show his/her dissatisfied emotion to that girl who attacked the photographer. If the quotation is indirectly quoted, the emotions may not be expressed as well. Only when the emotions are well expressed can the blogger be able to analyze and criticize fans’ attitude more effectively with references to fans’ emotions. The whole blog post is then more persuasive to audience.

Wonder Girls

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

How? Stylistically?

SISTAR

Other than formal features, the blogger also uses stylistic features such as abbreviation, profanity, rhetorical questions and analogy to help establish the ironic tone of the post while also conveying the theme. The diction of the post is considered informal and conversational based on the large use of abbreviations such as “rep” for reputation. The informality is enhanced by the use of profanity. Within the blog post, the blogger mentions profanity like “shit”, which could be considered offensive by certain readers. Nevertheless, with this informality, the blogger is able to express his or her strong criticism of Kpop fans’ irrational reactions by showing the honest monologue conversationally to the readers. The readers can thus understand the bloggers’ opinion better and more effectively, so they are more likely to be persuaded that the fans’ reactions are indeed too rabid. Another way for the blogger to express irony and thus make the post more effective is by the use of rhetorical questions. Under every quotation, the blogger asks a series of rhetorical questions. For example, “Are y'all really pulling the culture card here and blaming an entire group and society of people for bad behavior? Are you really assuming that because some fans are more physical and rude than others that that must be the entire culture?? Are you really saying that international fans need to expect violent backlash for not fitting in with Korean society???” In this section, the blogger is being sarcastic and criticizing the fact that fans of EXO are blaming the whole Korean Culture for the happening of the attack. By the use of rhetorical questions the blogger demonstrates how he/she thinks that the fans’ opinions is ludicrous and his/her sarcastic attitude towards this perspective. Furthermore, the use of anaphora – “Are you really…” – and the successive questions enhances the blogger’s disbelief and makes the idea more powerful and persuasive.

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

The blogger also uses analogies to help generate his/her ironic perspective and persuasive purpose by comparing fans’ behaviors with other ridiculous events. For instance, a fan suggests others to stay away from concerts to avoid attacks, which the blogger compares to the solution of “don’t go out at night” for people to “avoid rape”. By linking an unfamiliar idea of avoiding fan attacks with the relatively common solution of avoiding rape, it is easier for audiences to comprehend the new idea, and sense the absurdity and meaninglessness of the fan’s suggestion. Also, as is it fairly unusual to employ such a sensitive issue of rape in a public blog, the blogger catches the attention of readers. Combining the two functions, the use of analogy here again helps the blogger to persuade the readers of fans’ absurdity and lead to the conclusion that this event was no more than a recording of moment in that fan’s life.

CNBlue

So? To conclude, the blogger conveys his/her opinion of the irrationality of k-pop fans towards the current event of fan attack. This is done through the use of stylistic features and structural conventions including layout, font, color, abbreviation, profanity, rhetorical questions and analogy. The blogger effectively persuades the readers that the irrational voices should not be heard and the event was just a recording of moment in that fan’s life.

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

3. YAHOO! ANSWERS page

“There's good and bad stuff in ALL music” This Korean boy is so handsome!

Really? Then seems like all Korean boys must be as handsome as him.

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

What? The question “Why are K-pop fans so crazy?” was a question posted by Sam on YAHOO! ANSWERS in 2012. He extended his primary question, asking “Why are they so Anti-American music and why are they so certain K-pop is the most amazing music in the world and anyone who thinks otherwise should burn in the fiery pit where all the other bad people go?” This question was answered by seven people, and the best answer chosen by Sam was the one answered by cookie. In her response, Cookie aims to answer Sam’s question and express her opinion that the reason why K-pop fans are anti-American and devoted to K-pop is because they are ignorant and narrow-minded. Eventually, she draws the conclusion that not only K-pop fans, but any people who blindly judge a genre as a whole are absurd, as all genres have limitations and advantages. In order to achieve this aim, cookie applies formal features such as the “pointevidence-explain” structure, along with stylistic features including rhetorical questions, profanity, analogy, and capitalization.

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

For whom? The main intended audience is Sam, who posted the question, but at the same time cookie’s answer is also suitable for people who hold the same questions as Sam does. This can be deduced by looking at how cookie starts her answer. Cookie chooses to start by the word “Because” without restating the question, which means that the paragraphs she writes cannot be understood without others reading Sam’s question first. Therefore, this reveals that cookie is targeting her answer to Sam’s question and to those who may have similar questions and would click on this page to find answers.

Hyuna

How? Structurally? In the response, cookie applies the “point-evidence-explain” structure to support her statement and help her achieve the aim of expressing the opinion that K-pop fans are ignorant and narrow minded. For instance, she makes the point that K-pop fans do not “realize that there are other types of good music besides the pop stuff in the mass media” and that their accusations of “American music being all about sex and that stuff” is wrong. She then uses the example of Korean singer Hyuna’s music video for Bubblepop as her evidence, and comments that “she was wearing short, revealing clothes and strutting her stuff like crazy”. Then, she provides an explanation by saying “Ummm...contradiction?”, meaning that K-pop fans are accusing American music of being about sex, but in fact Korean pop also involves sex appeal. By doing this, cookie effectively answers the question and expresses her idea. She refers to the question by providing evidence and explanation directly to the fact that K-pop fans “are accusing of American music being all about sex and that stuff”, which Sam stated in his question. Secondly, the evidence she uses is the music video of Bubblepop performed by Hyuna, one of the most representatively sexy singers in Korean pop culture. By using this example, cookie expresses her idea clearly to Sam and other people who have the same question that K-pop fans are indeed contradictory to themselves because of their blind attachment to K-pop. Overall, the structure of “point-evidence-structure” helps cookie to demonstrate her logic and opinion adequately.

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

How? Stylistically? Besides formal features, cookie also applies stylistic features such as rhetorical questions, profanity, analogy, and capitalization. They contribute to the informal and confident tone and aid cookie to reach her aim. The one rhetorical question used in the answer is “Ummm...contradiction?”, where cookie states that it is a contradiction for K-pop fans to accuse American music for being all about sex, while K-pop also has sexy singers. The incompleteness of the sentence and the use of conversational words like “Ummm” make the tone of the answer informal. However, cookie is being ironic to such thoughts of K-pop fans and the use of the rhetorical question along with the “Ummm” successfully shows cookie’s disbelief and disagreement towards K-pop fans’ thoughts. Other than rhetorical question, the use of analogy can also be found in the answer: “It's like how a bunch of people (who aren't even Japanese...) bash everything that's not Japanese, saying how manga is much better and American comics are ****”. In this staement, cookie compares Kpop fan criticism of American pop to how fans of Japanese manga argue that American comics are not as good. Looking at words such as “bash”, the informality is again demonstrated. Use of profanity can also be found, though shown as “****” to censor language, either because of cookie’s personal choice or website policies. But the obvious use of profanity addresses the informality of the tone, and may be cookie imitating Japanese manga fans’ critics on American comics. In the US, K-pop and Japanese manga both have strong and supportive fan groups and are well-known aspects of Asian culture. Thus, by addressing Japanese manga, cookie shifts her attention from K-pop to a bigger picture, where people, regardless if they K-pop fans or not, “who diss a whole genre or worship a whole genre are ignorant” and that “There's good and bad stuff in ALL music”. The capitalization of the word “ALL”, which is considered informal though confident, helps cookie to emphasize that she is not only talking about k-pop, which Sam is asking about, but the bigger concept of appreciating all kinds of music. Her opinion that people should not blindly judge a genre as a whole is thereby effectively expressed to the readers.

2NE1

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

Bigbang â&#x20AC;Š

So? All in all, a user by the name of cookie seeks to respond to a question posed by Sam on a YAHOO! ANSWERS page. Through the use of stylistic features and formal features, cookie effectively answers Samâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s question about K-pop, but also expresses her opinion that any people who blindly judge a genre as a whole are ignorant and that any genre of music has limitations and advantages.

2PM

KCrush: K-POP Fandom in the Media

Fan=Individual Fan+Fan+…+Fan=Fandom Fandom+Fandom+…+Fandom= Phenomenon Phenomenon + Mass Media=Power

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CRUSH.

K-POP Fandom in the Media Be amazed by the power fans have.