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.
List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Seduction of the innocent? Kurimchaek as entertainment,
education, harmful media, political propaganda and beyond
Part One: History, media and regime
Chapter One: A short history of North Korea and kurimchaek
Chapter Two: Post-1998 North Korean graphic novels
Chapter Three: Father, Mother and Son: One family, one nation, one medium
Part Two: Seduction of the reader
Chapter Four: A society in crisis? From The Arduous March to a New Deal
Chapter Five: The downfall of a model citizen? Family background as plot
tension and policy discord
Chapter Six: Sleepless in the DPRK: Graphic negotiations of family in The
True Identity of Pear Blossom
Chapter Seven: Patriots behind enemy lines: Hyperreality and excess in
graphic novels about war
Part Three: Reading for the reader
Chapter Eight: Reading for the North Korean reader I: Media framing of comics
consumption in contemporary DPRK
Chapter Nine: Reading for the North Korean reader II: Comics in childrens
literature and refugee reminiscences
Final panel: Seduction of the innocent?
Bibliography
Index
Martin Petersen is a Senior Researcher at the National Museum of Denmark
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