Pyongyang (comics)

Pyongyang ( Pyongyang French ) is a comic book of the artist Guy Delisle of 2003. Guy Delisle reported it from his stay in North Korea.

Content

Guy Delisle travels on behalf of the company Protecrea to North Korea to oversee the work in the local SWAT animation studio (Scientific Educational Korea). During the stay, he is housed in the Yanggakdo Hotel, located on a lonely island in the Taedong - gang. The hotel he can leave only accompanied by his interpreter and tourist guide.

During his time in North Korea Delisle completed some mandatory visits, as the Pyongyang Metro, the Grand Monuments art troupe and the museums in honor of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong -il. He will also meet colleagues and friends from the animated film business, which he control work on movies and series, and visited the district in which the non-governmental organizations are housed.

Formation

2001 Guy Delisle traveled for the company Protecrea to North Korea, there to control the animation work. He had to sign a statement that he was not reported by the local experiences. Since the company but in 2003 no longer existed, he nevertheless was able to publish the report. Although he daily took notes during his stay, he made the decision to write a book, only after he had left North Korea again. Also, the drawings were made all outside of North Korea.

Design and Subjects

The book is not designed as a neutral report, but should reflect only the personal impression of the artist. Therefore, it is shown in particular how the few foreigners in North Korea live, not the local population.

In addition to the dictatorship in North Korea and the surveillance state is also about globalization, the part is also Delisle activity in Pyongyang. Discussed are the problems that Delisle with the controlled by him signatories and directors how the contradiction that in a Stalinist dictatorship, the children's series are produced, thanks to which capitalist parents can sleep until the wee hours, while their children hanging in front of the telly.

Style

The drawings are simple, the surfaces are often highlighted in gray. In some places full-page images are inserted, which are kept in dark tones.

Publication

The comic was published in 2003 for the first time at L'Association in France. Later releases followed on English in the American magazine Drawn and Quarterly and at Fusi orari. In addition, translations appeared in South Korea and Japan.

A German version was published in December 2007 by Reprodukt.

Reception

According to reviews, it is possible the work, the atmosphere of the surveillance state, oppression and tightness to convey as well as the absurd and surreal. Here, the humor is dry and often borderline, but will never lukewarm or banal. Delisle shows clearly his position, so that more of a personal account is created as a report. But the work is also claimed credible. According to the WORLD is Pyongyang a " laconic and meticulous observation of a country " is and was a " depressing reading ".

The drawing style is minimalist and help to convey the atmosphere.