In 2015, during the I Need U promotional period, Namjoon was spotted reading "Demian" by Hermann Hesse backstage at KBS Music Bank! 📖
"Demian" was later revealed to be the inspiration for the WINGS era in late 2016, over a year later!

#RM #NAMJOON #방탄소년단알엠 @BTS_twt
"Demian" by Hermann Hesse follows the story of Emil Sinclair, a young man who feels like he doesn't quite belong. Accompanied by his mysterious friend Max Demian, Emil seeks to understand himself and to learn what it means to exist and to grow up. 📖
The book "Demian" had a surge of popularity during the WINGS era, and this even featured in a news segment on KBS. They talk about the overseas popularity of BTS, J-Hope introduces the meaning of 'BTS' and Namjoon explains why the book was an inspiration. 📖
In the story that runs through BTS' discography, the School trilogy deals with finding a path in the rigid Korean school system, while D&W deals with rebellion, and the HYYH series with youth and feeling lost. WINGS is the transition from youth to adulthood, finding oneself.
In a KBS interview in the LY:Her era, Namjoon was asked about book inspirations for their music, and he named "Demian" by Hermann Hesse as a good example because of how familiar it is to the general public, and therefore multiplies the strength of the message they convey. 📖
"Demian" is often connected to the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche. One of Nietzsche's quotes is used in the WINGS concept photos and features in the Blood Sweat and Tears MV. Namjoon also talked about it on vlive in late 2016 as an impactful quote embodying growing up. 📖
The journey of Emil Sinclair in "Demian" to find his true self is also reminiscent of Jungian archetypes and symbolism, as Hesse himself was very interested in Jungian analysis. Karl Jung's archetypes Persona, Shadow and Ego form the pillars of BTS's Map Of The Soul series. 📖
Suggested critical reading: this piece was very interesting to understand why "Demian" is such a common read in Korea 📖
blog.lareviewofbooks.org/the-korea-blog…
Additional critical reading:
newyorker.com/magazine/2018/…

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More from @JooniesLibrary

6 Apr
In Fall 2017 during the LY: Her promotions, Namjoon said in a KBS interview that he has been revisiting "1984" by George Orwell after a long while, and how this has provided him with a different experience of the book 📖

#RM #NAMJOON #방탄소년단알엠
@BTS_twt
"1984" by George Orwell is a literature classic describing a man's life (Winston's) in the totalitarian regime of Oceania. Winston has to navigate the themes of love, duty, freedom, and fear in a haunting and still-relevant glimpse into a controlled society. 📖 ImageImage
The book cemented itself as one of the most important works of the 20th century, and still today words like "doublethink" find use in our daily lives.

What are your thoughts about the relevance of "1984"? Did you enjoy the book? Have you read it recently? 📖 Image
Read 6 tweets
4 Apr
In late 2016, Namjoon talked about how as a trainee he had to write a song about a friend, which turned into the J Cole cover Like A Star with JK. Namjoon compared his friend's first sentence to him with the first line of "The Stranger" by Albert Camus 📖

#RM #방탄소년단알엠
The first line of Namjoon's verse in the 2012 predebut J Cole cover Like A Star is "Just like a star, my gray life". He was inspired by his friend's story to contemplate the uncertainty of youth.

Translation cr. BTSTRANS

Listen to Like A Star here: soundcloud.com/bangtan/like-a… ImageImage
The Stranger by Albert Camus is a classic of French literature. It is a short novella following Meursault, a young Frenchman in colonized Algiers. Meursault is very detached from everything around him, including his own life, and is very much a "black or white" literal person. 📖 ImageImage
Read 6 tweets

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