Seung-ri and the burning sun scandal: a study of K-pop idol reputations and identities

This thesis offers an examination of reputational work and identity processes that are often part of it by studying the contested reputation of Seung ri from K-pop music act BigBang, who got caught up in the 2019 Burning Sun scandal and was convicted for prostitution meditation, illegal overseas...

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Main Author: Luu, Vinh Trinh
Other Authors: Patrick Williams
Format: Thesis-Master by Research
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/163672
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1636722023-03-05T15:52:32Z Seung-ri and the burning sun scandal: a study of K-pop idol reputations and identities Luu, Vinh Trinh Patrick Williams School of Social Sciences patrick.williams@ntu.edu.sg Social sciences::Sociology This thesis offers an examination of reputational work and identity processes that are often part of it by studying the contested reputation of Seung ri from K-pop music act BigBang, who got caught up in the 2019 Burning Sun scandal and was convicted for prostitution meditation, illegal overseas gambling, fund embezzlement, distribution of explicit footage of women, among other offenses in early 2022. Though not the only high-profile figure involved in the scandal, the K-pop artist has arguably received the most public attention since the case became publicized. Communities of K-pop fans and those interested in Korean media in general were split in their reactions to news of Seung-ri involvement in the scandal. Some believe he was framed and scapegoated for the crimes of others or unfairly trialed by the media and uninformed public. Others are under the impression that the idol really did commit the crimes he was committed of. Groups with divergent takes on the scandal often clashed on social media, constructing almost contradictory public images of Seung-ri in support of their claims regarding his involvement. Applying Fine’s theoretical framework on reputation construction, which holds that a person’s reputation is embedded in the interests, relations, and perceptions of those creating it (or reputational entrepreneurs) to online discussions of the Burning Sun scandal and interviews with former and current fans of BigBang, I found that the reputations that those interested in the scandal created for Seung-ri were shaped by their cynical views of celebrities, negative perceptions of South Korea due to its widespread corruption and patriarchal social structure, mistrust of the South Korean media and government, rivalry among different K-pop fandoms, negative public perceptions of K-pop fans, and fans’ emotional connection with Seung-ri and BigBang. Moreover, as part of constructing Seung-ri’s reputations, reputational entrepreneurs constructed for themselves and each other a range of categorical identities with the purpose of using the social images these identities generate to influence the credibility of their reputational accounts of Seung-ri. Master of Arts 2022-12-13T11:24:27Z 2022-12-13T11:24:27Z 2022 Thesis-Master by Research Luu, V. T. (2022). Seung-ri and the burning sun scandal: a study of K-pop idol reputations and identities. Master's thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/163672 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/163672 10.32657/10356/163672 en This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). application/pdf Nanyang Technological University
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Social sciences::Sociology
spellingShingle Social sciences::Sociology
Luu, Vinh Trinh
Seung-ri and the burning sun scandal: a study of K-pop idol reputations and identities
description This thesis offers an examination of reputational work and identity processes that are often part of it by studying the contested reputation of Seung ri from K-pop music act BigBang, who got caught up in the 2019 Burning Sun scandal and was convicted for prostitution meditation, illegal overseas gambling, fund embezzlement, distribution of explicit footage of women, among other offenses in early 2022. Though not the only high-profile figure involved in the scandal, the K-pop artist has arguably received the most public attention since the case became publicized. Communities of K-pop fans and those interested in Korean media in general were split in their reactions to news of Seung-ri involvement in the scandal. Some believe he was framed and scapegoated for the crimes of others or unfairly trialed by the media and uninformed public. Others are under the impression that the idol really did commit the crimes he was committed of. Groups with divergent takes on the scandal often clashed on social media, constructing almost contradictory public images of Seung-ri in support of their claims regarding his involvement. Applying Fine’s theoretical framework on reputation construction, which holds that a person’s reputation is embedded in the interests, relations, and perceptions of those creating it (or reputational entrepreneurs) to online discussions of the Burning Sun scandal and interviews with former and current fans of BigBang, I found that the reputations that those interested in the scandal created for Seung-ri were shaped by their cynical views of celebrities, negative perceptions of South Korea due to its widespread corruption and patriarchal social structure, mistrust of the South Korean media and government, rivalry among different K-pop fandoms, negative public perceptions of K-pop fans, and fans’ emotional connection with Seung-ri and BigBang. Moreover, as part of constructing Seung-ri’s reputations, reputational entrepreneurs constructed for themselves and each other a range of categorical identities with the purpose of using the social images these identities generate to influence the credibility of their reputational accounts of Seung-ri.
author2 Patrick Williams
author_facet Patrick Williams
Luu, Vinh Trinh
format Thesis-Master by Research
author Luu, Vinh Trinh
author_sort Luu, Vinh Trinh
title Seung-ri and the burning sun scandal: a study of K-pop idol reputations and identities
title_short Seung-ri and the burning sun scandal: a study of K-pop idol reputations and identities
title_full Seung-ri and the burning sun scandal: a study of K-pop idol reputations and identities
title_fullStr Seung-ri and the burning sun scandal: a study of K-pop idol reputations and identities
title_full_unstemmed Seung-ri and the burning sun scandal: a study of K-pop idol reputations and identities
title_sort seung-ri and the burning sun scandal: a study of k-pop idol reputations and identities
publisher Nanyang Technological University
publishDate 2022
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/163672
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