This thesis analyzes the stereotypical representation of North Korea in the film "The Interview." Furthermore, it explains how this film led to increasing tensions between North Korea and the...Show moreThis thesis analyzes the stereotypical representation of North Korea in the film "The Interview." Furthermore, it explains how this film led to increasing tensions between North Korea and the United States and the controversial hack of Sony Pictures.Show less
This thesis is concerned with the narrative on peaceful Korean reunification and the efforts of the North Korean regime to shape this narrative through online pro-North Korea websites. The thesis...Show moreThis thesis is concerned with the narrative on peaceful Korean reunification and the efforts of the North Korean regime to shape this narrative through online pro-North Korea websites. The thesis consists of an original case study research of pro-North Korea online newspaper Minjok T’ongshin and how it uses the concept of the Korean minjok to shape the narrative on peaceful Korean reunification. The thesis should conclude with a controversial answer to the following research question: what role does the concept of the Korean minjok play in the shaping of the South Korean narrative on peaceful Korean reunification by Minjok T’ongshin during the Kim Jong Un regime, and can it achieve the peaceful reunification that is envisioned?Show less
In 2015 Russian director Vitaly Mansky’s documentary film Under the Sun was released. Under the Sun was supposed to be a ‘joint venture’ between the Russian director Vitaly Mansky and North Korea’s...Show moreIn 2015 Russian director Vitaly Mansky’s documentary film Under the Sun was released. Under the Sun was supposed to be a ‘joint venture’ between the Russian director Vitaly Mansky and North Korea’s Ministry of Culture represented by the DPRK’s Korea Film Export and Import Corporation, a production company that is credited in the beginning of the film. However, according to Mansky, the contract stated that “every single detail had to be approved by North Korea’s Ministry of Culture.” These details that needed to be approved ranged from decisions made about the script to the kind of cameras Mansky was allowed to use. Mansky, who was “used to having complete creative freedom”, seems to have had problems with this working relationship. Thus Mansky went around the North Korean authorities’ rules to create his documentary film. Mansky says he let the cameras roll all the time, and duplicated his video cards before they were given to the some unspecified North Koreans –Mansky says he did not know who they were- who reviewed Mansky’s footage and had to approve it. The film seems to have been disapproved by North Korea long before the finished product hit theatres. The contract between Mansky and North Korea’s Ministry of Culture was broken in 2014, when Mansky’s access to North Korea was shut down, as well as any communication from his ‘partners’ in North Korea. The film also brought up the topic of safety for those involved. The question was whether people would face repercussions for being linked to Under the Sun. In an interview with The Guardian Mansky says that the Russian Federation wanted to have its name removed from the film’s credits, claiming that they were scared because they “lied to our North Korean partners”, but also because they were afraid of what would happen to the North Koreans who are seen in the film. In that same interview Mansky said he excluded some footage that might have had negative repercussions for the family that is followed in the film. Mansky’s Under the Sun has strayed away from whatever form the initial project was meant to have. Instead of being a ‘joint venture’ Under the Sun is a production made by Vitaly Mansky and it is he who has created the story. In that way it is a Vitaly Mansky documentary film, and not a North Korean documentary film. Moreover, Under the Sun should not be read as a North Korean propaganda piece, but rather a visual document that explores North Korean propaganda. Under the Sun inherently concerns itself with the topic of propaganda; Mansky makes use of a contrast between what is ‘reality’ and what is ‘fabricated’. How does Mansky’s treatment of the topic of propaganda in Under the Sun portray North Korea? This thesis will argue that in Under the Sun Mansky tries to point out and dissolve North Korea’s visual propaganda to emphasize the misery of citizens in the North Korean system, as well as emphasize the cruelty of North Korea as a totalitarian state.Show less
This thesis posits that the construction of a Japanese identity in government produced popular culture is inconsistent. The contradictory values within a constructed ‘Self’ portray Japan as a ...Show moreThis thesis posits that the construction of a Japanese identity in government produced popular culture is inconsistent. The contradictory values within a constructed ‘Self’ portray Japan as a ‘superior victim’ with regard to the abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korea. By utilizing a value-action framework it can be determined that the values portrayed in the narratives of the analysed popular culture have indeed been affected by the lines of action in the production process, and can therefore be concluded to be, in this study, the dominant values in North Korea policymaking. These values can be found throughout the narratives analysed in this thesis. By positioning these values in a model of culture in action, it becomes clear that the perceived ‘Japanese identity’ is in a transitional phase.Show less
