Social media and videoblogging, or vlogging, are taking over the internet and North Korea is joining this trend. While doing so, the state is reaching out to the international community through...Show moreSocial media and videoblogging, or vlogging, are taking over the internet and North Korea is joining this trend. While doing so, the state is reaching out to the international community through relatable media content and soft power tools. One of the examples, in which North Korea reached out to the international viewer, is the Youtube channel ‘Echo of Truth’. This research aims to answer the question as to how soft power tools are applied in the videos of ‘Echo of Truth’. By using a qualitative visual discourse analysis, it analyzes the videos of ‘Echo of Truth’ to answer this question. This thesis argues that soft power tools, such as cultural and culinary diplomacy, are applied in the videos in order to make these videos more relatable to the international audience. However, not all the videos were found to have used these soft power techniques as traditional propaganda videos were still uploaded to the channel. The sheer differences found in the channel’s videos raised the question of a power dilemma the channel seemed to be facing.Show less
Before the Meiji period, women were typically portrayed as idolized beauties, fitting within the contemporary beauty ideals. However, due to the new influences coming from the West after the...Show moreBefore the Meiji period, women were typically portrayed as idolized beauties, fitting within the contemporary beauty ideals. However, due to the new influences coming from the West after the opening of the borders, artists started to challenge this standard bijin mode of representing women. Artists such as Kajiwara Hisako, Tadaoto Kainoshō and Chigusa Sōn created paintings depicting women in a whole new manner compared to former periods. While previously women were often shown as the epitome of beauty and sophistication, now there was room for representations of women who weren’t perfect nor appealed to the society’s beauty standards. This thesis analyses how male and female nihonga artists created anti-bijin in response to social and artistic developments in Meiji and Taisho Japan. Furthermore, it explores how and to what extent these works broke away from the bijin ideal and what the driving force was behind the creation of these works.Show less
