Silver Spoon by BTS: A Critical Discourse Analysis

BTS has become a global phenomenon not only because of the different genres of their music, but for the messages conveyed in their lyrics and the cultural representation of Korean culture. This article presents an analysis of a BTS' song that addresses a social difficulty based on the struggle faced by young Koreans related to education. Another aspect that makes this band's music relevant is the complexity of their lyrics by using their mother tongue Korean and English in order to convey a message and target a broad audience when mixing both languages. The analysis of the song is anchored in critical discourse analysis following Fairclough's three-dimensional model. The results of the analysis demonstrate how flexible language use illustrates young Koreans' views on society and more specifically in education. In order to understand a social problem in their country, this paper analyses how the artist used language to illustrate and give voice to the generation they represent.