經濟學人精讀|韓國男團(BTS)

本期導讀

本文節選自《經濟學人》20201010期。近年來，韓國流行音樂界醜聞不斷，然而韓國最成功的流行音樂組合、世界最大男團——防彈少年團（BTS）卻似乎是業內一股清流，沒有受到不良風氣的影響。

A big K-pop IPO

Woke blokes

In a business marked by misogyny and scandal, BTS trades in niceness

K-pop 指韓國流行音樂Woke blokes 來自澳大利亞歌手Thelma Plum的一首同名歌曲misogyny 意思是名詞「厭惡女人」，類似詞形的還有：misogynist（厭惡女人的男人）和形容詞 misogynisticscandal 意思是「醜聞，醜行」

For the past couple of years, the biggest news in the world of K-pop has been decidedly unpleasant. A scandal centred on「Burning Sun」, a glitzy nightclub in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, saw several male K-pop stars and industry executives accused last year of sexual abuse, procuring sex for business partners, drug-peddling and bribery. Later in the year two female idols committed suicide in the space of a few weeks. Both had been subject to misogynistic abuse for years.

decidedly 意思是「確實；肯定；顯然」glitzy 意思是「華麗的，浮華的」，其名詞形式是 glitzprocure 意思是「（設法）獲得，取得」drug-peddling 指「販毒」；drug 意思是「毒品」，peddle 意思是「販賣，兜售」bribery 意思是名詞「行賄，賄賂；受賄」；bribe 指「賄賂」，既可作動詞又可作名詞idol 意思是「受到熱愛和崇拜的人（或物）；偶像」，也就是我們平時說的「愛豆」suicide 指名詞「自殺」，commit suicide 就是動詞「自殺」subject 用作形容詞，意思是「受…支配，受……影響」

But the industry’s biggest stars seem untouched by its seedy side. BTS, the world’s most successful K-pop group and the biggest boy band on the planet, has found global success by selling something close to the opposite of the machismo and aloofness that are usually required from K-pop idols. The seven 20-something men present themselves as down-to-earth, frank about the pressures and downsides of fame, socially engaged and aware of their own shortcomings. When fans got upset about a set of sexist lyrics a few years ago, the member who wrote them apologised for his ignorance and vowed to 「study more」 to avoid such lapses in future ( he has since been spotted reading a feminist novel). And when American fans asked the group to support the Black Lives Matter protests this year, they promptly did.

seedy 意思是「骯髒的；汙七八糟的；烏煙瘴氣的；下流的」band 指「樂隊」，它還有「帶子」的意思。machismo 意思是「大男子氣概，大男子主義行為」aloofness 是aloof的名詞形式，aloof 意思是「冷漠的，冷淡的」20-something 意思是「20歲出頭的，20歲左右的」；這裡的something表示一種模糊的概念，比如 The parcel was ten pounds something.這包裹有十磅左右。down-to-earth 意思是「切合實際的，務實的」frank 意思是「坦率的」fame 指「名氣，名聲」，形容詞是famouslyric常用作複數，指「歌詞」lapse 意思是「小錯，過失」spot 這裡意思是「看到，看見，注意到」Black Lives Matter 是一個黑人人權運動，意為「黑人的命也是命」，縮寫為「BLM」

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