Leiden University Student Repository

Satriano, Eliana (2019)

The Representation of North Korea Through Movies

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

This thesis focused on South Korean movies and researched how North Korea is represented in movies produced from 1999 to 2018. In order to complete this research, the paper was divided into three main sections. The first chapter introduced the Korean cinema and the governmental policies applied to the film industry. It also gave an overview of the historical and political situation of the two Koreas by looking at the inter-Korean relations through South Korea’s foreign policies. The second chapter discussed the literature review on film theories, including the narrative theory of Roland Barthes and the theory of realism, used in the analysis. In addition, the methodology explained how the research is conducted. Lastly, the third chapter was dedicated to the case studies analysis and the related discussion. In this study it was discovered that the representation of North Korea changed throughout the years. These changes often corresponded to the political and social situation...Show moreThis thesis focused on South Korean movies and researched how North Korea is represented in movies produced from 1999 to 2018. In order to complete this research, the paper was divided into three main sections. The first chapter introduced the Korean cinema and the governmental policies applied to the film industry. It also gave an overview of the historical and political situation of the two Koreas by looking at the inter-Korean relations through South Korea’s foreign policies. The second chapter discussed the literature review on film theories, including the narrative theory of Roland Barthes and the theory of realism, used in the analysis. In addition, the methodology explained how the research is conducted. Lastly, the third chapter was dedicated to the case studies analysis and the related discussion. In this study it was discovered that the representation of North Korea changed throughout the years. These changes often corresponded to the political and social situation experienced in reality.Show less

Korean cinema

blockbuster movies

portrayal

policies

Author

Satriano, Eliana

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

International Studies

Supervisors

D’Hooghe, Ingrid

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en