North Korean Graphic Novels: Seduction of the Innocent? (Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia)

Graphic novels (kurimchaek) are a major art form in North Korea, produced by agents of the regime to set out its vision in a range of important areas. This book provides an analysis of North Korean graphic novels, discussing the ideals they promote and the tensions within those ideals, and examining the reception of graphic novels in North Korea and by North Korean refugees in South Korea. Particular themes considered include the ideal family and how the regime promotes this; patriotism, and its conflict with class identities; and the portrayal of the Korean War -- "The Fatherland Liberation War", as it is known in North Korea -- and the subsequent, continuing stand-off. Overall, the book demonstrates the importance of graphic novels in North Korea as a tool for bringing up children and for promoting North Korean ideals. In addition, however, the book also shows that although the regime sees the imaginative power of graphic novels as a necessity for effective communication, graphic novels are also viewed with caution in that they exist in everyday social life in ways that the regime may be aware of, and seeks to control, but cannot dominate completely Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 List of figures......Page 8 List of tables......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 13 Introduction: seduction of the innocent? Kurimchaek as entertainment, education, harmful media, political propaganda and beyond......Page 18 Part I History, media and regime......Page 42 1 A short history of North Korea and kurimchaek......Page 44 2 Post-1998 North Korean graphic novels......Page 79 3 Father, mother and son: one family, one nation, one medium......Page 107 Part II Seduction of the reader......Page 134 4 A society in crisis? From The Arduous March to a new deal......Page 136 5 The downfall of a model citizen? Family background as plot tension and policy discord......Page 168 6 Sleepless in the DPRK: graphic negotiations of ‘family’ in The True Identity of ‘Pear Blossom’......Page 209 7 Patriots behind enemy lines: hyperreality and excess in graphic novels about war......Page 237 Part III Reading for the reader......Page 266 8 Reading for the North Korean reader I: media framing of comics consumption in contemporary DPRK......Page 268 9 Reading for the North Korean reader II: comics in children’s literature and refugee reminiscences......Page 293 Final panel: seduction of the innocent?......Page 318 Index......Page 320