The Lighthouse Diary #70: A Model Text for the Exploratory Essay 2 of 2

This is part 2 of the model text I wrote for the Exploratory Essay we require our grade 11 students to write. We have been conducting research sessions with our grade 11 students since February. They are in Phase 1 of the Research Design Cycle where selecting a topic, doing initial research and preparing an annotated bibliography are essentials. From here on, we will model the feedback mechanism that comes into play in a given exercise.

Exploratory Essay: Understanding Intertextuality as Literary Theory and Strategy in Selected Songs and Music Videos of BTS (2 of 2)

Spring Day is not the only song and music video where intertextuality is present in BTS’ exploration of justice, freedom and individual choices against cultural norms and social structures. In Blood, Sweat & Tears, a BTS track released in 2016, Hermann Hesse’s novel Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair’s Youth is highly referenced as RM, the group’s leader and rapper, reads a passage from the novel while a silhouette of Jhope in blood red background shows him releasing a balloon. The music video contains explicit allusions to the loss of innocence, temptation, and duality. These themes are present in Hesse’s Demian particularly the story arc of Emil Sinclair. The line “He too was a tempter, he too was a link to the second, the evil world” is quoted verbatim in the video, underlining the text’s influence on BTS' exploration of coming-of-age and individuation. Nedelcu (2024) praises this merging of texts as a blend of the East and the West in pop-culture emphasizing the importance of leveraging literature into the mainstream.

BTS did not stop at Hesse. In the music video for ON (Map of the Soul 7, 2020), BTS utilizes biblical imagery and motifs reminiscent of John Milton’s Paradise Lost (Bishoff, 2024). The scene of fallen angels, doves, gates, and suffering heroes in the music video evoke Milton’s vision of rebellion and resilience. The themes of fall and redemption resonate with BTS' own narrative arc of struggle and their desire for transcendence– a way of breaking free from the manufactured and moulded systems of the KPop industry to find artistic freedom and exponential success outside of South Korea. To justify this message of breaking through moulds and the manufacturing line, the final track in the mentioned album, Dionysus, is a direct allusion to the bacchanalian Greek god whose drunkenness led to unbounded creativity. In Greek mythology, Dionysus is from outside the Grecian lineage. He is known to be an outcast who came to Olympus challenging the status quo (Suvani and Del Novo). By using Dionysus as metaphor, BTS laid claim to their agenda of conquering accolades, awards, sold-out stadium shows and a legion of ARMYs in the Western hemisphere. Through these intentional and artful intertextual references—from a movie, authors of renown such as Le Guin, Hesse and Milton to folkloric beliefs Greek mythology—BTS asserts its creative agency, reclaims narrative power, and positions its music as a space where literature, mythology, and pop culture converge to challenge norms and reimagine identity on a global stage. Intertextuality, in this case, is used as both theory and creative strategy that opens up to discourse, eliciting an emotional resonance to fans and audiences that keeps them engaged while basking in a newfound relevance in literature, culture and the arts.

 

BTS makes use of Intertextuality as a theory and creative tool to examine themes of justice, freedom and identity. By deriving materials and borrowing texts from literature, folklore and other forms of media, BTS’ songs and music videos are powerful storytelling strategies that challenge socio-cultural norms, promote artistic expression and provide the connection between idols and fans deeply. Given these statements, the working research question for this academic paper is: how does BTS use intertextuality as both a literary theory and creative strategy in their songs and music videos to challenge cultural norms, explore identity, and engage in global discourse?

 

To answer this question, I will be selecting three YouTube reactors that discuss BTS’ music videos from three albums, Wings, Young Forever and Map of the Soul 7, specifically the songs and music videos of Spring Day, Blood, Sweat and Tears, ON and Dionysus. I have identified five academic journals that studies the aforementioned music videos and the intertextuality present in each. I will draw from the analysis a critical review on each song and the texts and materials used to layer and deepen their meaning. By comparing academic perspectives with fan interpretations, I hope to uncover how intertextuality operates across scholarly and popular discourse, and how it contributes to the cultural impact and relevance of BTS’ work.

 

References:

Books & Academic Sources:

Baldick, C. (2015). The Oxford dictionary of literary terms (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Childs, P., & Fowler, R. (2006). The Penguin dictionary of literary terms and literary theory (4th ed.). Penguin Books.

Zengin, M. (2016). An introduction to intertextuality as a literary theory. Journal of Literature and Art Studies, 6(1), 74–84. https://doi.org/10.17265/2159-5836/2016.01.009

 

Online Articles & Educational Resources:

Matrix Education. (n.d.). Literary techniques: Intertextuality. Matrix Education. Retrieved March 18, 2025, from https://www.matrix.edu.au/literary-techniques-intertextuality/

TeachMedia. (n.d.). Media studies: Intertextuality. TeachMedia.co.uk. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://teachmedia.co.uk/media-studies-theory/intertextuality/

Suvani, V., & Del Nevo, M. (n.d.). Dionysus by BTS. Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub. Retrieved April 2, 2025, from https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/korean-studies-research-hub/research/the-story-of-a-song2/3-dionysus.-bts-%2C-2019

Lazore, C. (2024). A close read: Spring Day.

Savic, P. (n.d.). The relationship between literature and music in BTS. University of Split, Croatia.

Nedelcu, D. (2024). Blending cultures in BTS’ Blood, Sweat and Tears. LINGUACULTURE, 15(2), 54–67. Pop Culture and Audience Reception in a Transnational Context (N. Reagin & F. Năstase, Eds.). http://www.journal.linguaculture.ro

Bishoff, N. (2024). Revisiting Paradise Lost through K-Pop: A global approach to teaching writing. George Washington University.

The Lighthouse Diary #69: A Model Text for the Exploratory Essay 1 of 2

We kicked off our Extended Essay (EE) Journey last February, around the third week and we have been dwelling in topic selection; identifying sources that will inform us of breadth and depth of topics, using thinking tools such as the KWL-I Chart and Mind Maps to see connections and organize our thinking. Add to this is the relearning of Managebac as a platform to document our reflections as we learn and navigate in the EE. In previous years we would require our students to write a topic/research proposal and present it to a panel. Realizing the importance of "thinking slow" in this phase of the EE, and how crucial research and inquiry are, we thought of writing an Exploratory Essay. To help our students in this exercise, we sent and showed them model texts. 

Below is one of them, written by me.

Exploratory Essay: Understanding Intertextuality as Literary Theory and Strategy in Selected Songs and Music Videos of BTS

By Ms. Zee 😊

Of the varied specialized dictionaries, I used to establish a definition of Intertextuality, it is Julia Kristeva’s work that is consistently mentioned. Graham Allen’s recent work on Intertextuality (2020), which has a comprehensive and extensive coverage, is cited as well. These are the two scholars who have written extensively on the topic of Intertextuality; therefore, I will make time to do research on their publications to deepen and extend my knowledge on my chosen topic. For my exploratory essay, I will focus on establishing basic but foundational knowledge on Intertextuality.

 Kristeva posits that Intertextuality is a relationship between and among texts. This interplay of texts not only echo each other but undergo a transposition– something familiar and yet, it offers something new. Expressed through anagram, allusion, adaptation, parody, pastiche, imitation and other kinds of transformation, texts are drawn to establish an interdependence that emulsifies and amplifies meaning. The overlaying of texts is nuanced with the traces of texts from other sources, thus, the discourse surrounding this transformed text becomes padded. It offers the reader a variety of points of view and perspectives. The reader’s knowledge of different forms, genres and kinds of text is key in the understanding and appreciation of intertextual texts as a work of literature (Matrix Education n.d). When taken as a media product, texts that are produced using intertextuality have the power to hold the audience’s or the reader’s reckoning of contents or brands. In this case, Intertextuality when viewed as a theory allows open discussions on sources of information, knowledge and literature either literary or non-literary. Zengin (2016) further expands the theory of intertextuality as both an act of authorial production and reader perception. The meaning of an intertext is set upon its creation by the author but this evolves and changes depending on the reader’s interaction with the text. Intertextuality then becomes a never-ending process of meaning-making.

This brings to light the music video of Spring Day by the KPop group, BTS. There are three notable scenes and images that are fused together. The effect is an intriguing, almost luminous, message on loss, longing and the desire for justice in a seemingly hopeless world. The explicit use of Omelas to name a hotel/dorm harkens to Ursula Le Guin’s riveting short story; the lone train traveling in a wintry landscape is reminiscent of the post-apocalyptic movie, Snowpiercer (2013); and the folkloric image of a pair of shoes hanging in a tree branch magnifies the yearning for freedom and individuation. These borrowed texts provide a layered and emotionally textured narrative that invite viewers to discuss and reinterpret the message through literary appropriation, allusion and socio-cultural phenomenon. Even the song lyrics are picked up by fans and casual audiences contributing to a rich discourse on pop-culture and its relevance of storytelling to the human condition (Lazore, 2024). By referencing images and literary elements from a short story, a movie and folkloric beliefs, Spring Day as a song and music video transforms into a story that fans and casual viewers discover as both mystical and illuminating evoking a variety of emotions and multiple interpretations. Spring Day has never left the MelOn Charts since its release in 2017. It has won numerous awards in South Korea and has been performed in different artistic forms since then.