Pyongyang (comic)
Pyongyang ( French Pyongyang ) is a comic by the illustrator Guy Delisle from 2003. In it Guy Delisle reports on his stay in North Korea .
content
Guy Delisle travels to North Korea on behalf of the Protecrea company to supervise the work in the local SEK animation studio ( Scientific Educational Korea ). During his stay he is accommodated in the Yanggakdo Hotel , which is lonely on an island in Taedong-gang . He can only leave the hotel in the company of his interpreter and guide.
During his time in North Korea, Delisle made some mandatory visits such as the Pyongyang Metro , the Mansudae Grand Monument, and the museums in honor of Kim-Il-Sung and Kim Jong-il . He also meets colleagues and friends from the animation business who, like him, control work on films and series, and visits the neighborhood where the non-governmental organizations are housed.
Emergence
In 2001 Guy Delisle traveled to North Korea for the Protecrea company to control the animation work there. He had to sign a declaration that he would not report on the experiences there. However, since the company no longer existed in 2003, he was able to publish the report. Although he took daily notes during his stay, he didn't make the decision to write a book until after leaving North Korea. The drawings were also all made outside of North Korea.
Concept and themes
The book is not designed as a neutral report, but is only intended to reflect the artist's personal impression. Therefore, it is mainly shown how the few foreigners live in North Korea, not the native population.
In addition to the dictatorship in North Korea and the surveillance state, it is also about globalization, of which Delisle's activity in Pyongyang is also part. The issues that Delisle had with the draftsmen and directors he controlled, as well as the contradiction that in a Stalinist dictatorship, the children's series are produced, thanks to which capitalist parents can sleep in their dolls, while their children are in front of the telly .
style
The drawings are simple, the surfaces are often highlighted in gray. Full-page images in dark tones are inserted at individual points.
publication
The comic was first published in 2003 by L'Association in France. This was later followed by publications in English in the American magazine Drawn and Quarterly and by Fusi orari. Translations have also appeared in South Korea and Japan.
The German version was published by Reprodukt in December 2007, translated by Jochen Schmidt .
reception
According to the reviews, the work manages to convey the atmosphere of the surveillance state, oppression and narrowness, as well as the absurd and surreal. The humor is dry and often borderline, but never becomes tepid or banal. Delisle clearly shows his position, so that more of a personal report emerged than a report. But this also makes the work credible. According to DIE WELT, Pyongyang is a “laconic and meticulous observation of a country” and is “depressing reading” .
The drawing style is minimalist and helps to convey the atmosphere.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Article on Pyongyang by J. Kelly Nestruck of the National Post, on the Drawn and Quarterly page. Archived from the original on March 24, 2006 ; accessed on October 14, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d e review at Die Welt
- ↑ a b c review in the Berliner Zeitung
- ↑ a b c d e Review at the Internet magazine Goon ( Memento from September 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Review in the SZ , by Perlentaucher