Listening to @BTS_twt and thinking about connections bw BTS, ARMY and literacy. I listen to their lyrics in Korean, read across translations in Eng, and look up terms/concepts/references that I don’t understand or need to think about in depth 1/5

I read abt Korean history & culture, references made to literature bcs there’s cultural, language, and other contexts I need. For ARMY there's lots of self/community-driven learning and exchange happening across the fandom (translators, theorists, data collection). 2/5

The original notion of literacy sponsors from D. Brandt suggests that sponsors can be: “any agents, local or distinct, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy—and gain advantage by it in some way.” 3/5

Thinking abt BTS as literacy sponsors has me calling into question how we might reconceive of the “gains” (others have pointed this out, too). BTS models, supports, and teaches literacy practices w/out centering English, that's powerful. I think *our* gain,
4/5

ARMYs willingness to learn and think critically is what they seem to enjoy. When the members talk about ARMY theorizing, picking up references, or learning Korean, this feels like the kind of delight they take from our exchange.
5/5