Nayoung Bishoff (@nayoungbishoff.bsky.social)

My recent article on #BTS Wings and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray has just been published in Literature/Film Quarterly: lfq.salisbury.edu/_issues/53_1...

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Beyond The (K-Pop) Scene: BTS’s Wings and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Nayoung Bishoff, Literature Film Quarterly Oscar Wilde employs the element of art—portraiture—in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde describes how Dorian Gray appears perfect, satisfying social expectations, while Gray’s hidden portrait becomes stained over time. This article will explore how this stained portrait symbolizes Gray’s hidden self beyond his persona and how the South Korean popular music (K-pop) group BTS (Beyond the Scene) reinterprets this idea in their short film series Wings (2016) within South Korean context. I will first demonstrate how BTS’s intertextuality with Western literature, including The Picture of Dorian Gray, expands the definition of adaptation through a transnational lens. By incorporating elements of this classic novel into their work, BTS not only reimagines the story for the global audience but also highlights the fluidity of literary themes. This approach underscores the transformative power of adaptation, showing how different cultural contexts can work together to create resonant messages that transcend traditional boundaries. https://lfq.salisbury.edu/_issues/53_1/beyond_the_kpop-scene_btss_wings_and_oscar_wildes_the_picture_of_dorian_gray.html#gsc.tab=0