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Intertwining Text and Imagery in "Pyongyang"

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In the graphic novel Pyongyang by Guy Delisle, he depicts his two month stay in North Korea. This is a very rare portrayal of a country the majority of Americans are unaware of. Most of the knowledge that the American people have of North Korea is extracted from the media, which tends to showcase the country as a poverty-stricken land run by a raging tyrant. However, Delisle's attention to detail within his graphic novel was able to show the restrictions and oddities of North Korea in an informational and resourceful way. There was not a shock factor placed to garner a reaction from readers. Instead, it was the consistency and descriptive narration that allows the audience to actively compare what they know to the reality of the situation. For example, there is a page in which Delisle describes his discomfort when his guide starts smoking in the taxi with the windows up and the air conditioning on (7). Although a minor detail, this scene emphasizes how different the cultural norms are in North Korea from the second of his arrival. Moreover, Delisle also includes segments of a travel tips booklet to relay what the do's and don'ts are. He also incorporates his personal reactions to artifacts he comes across to add to the realism of the narrative. For instance, he recounts the peculiarity of a dead man being the country's president (Delisle 9). These reactions are easily delivered through the combination of text and images.
In Chapter 6 of Understanding Comics, the effectiveness of using text and image together is discussed. McCloud describes the history of images and text, as well as how they began to move toward opposite sides of the spectrum. They were becoming increasingly separated because of the stigma that using the two together was "at best a diversion for the masses, at worst a product of crass commercialism" (McCloud 140). Delisle proves that this is not the case. It was a smart decision, especially from a journalistic standpoint, to tell his story through the medium of graphic novel. If it were entirely in pictures, it would not hold the same amount of depth. If it were all in written text, the information could have become too overwhelming. The graphic novel creates the perfect balance for readers to learn new things while reflecting on the knowledge they already know. It is almost like an educational, readily available, and illustrated travel guide. The nature of Delisle's graphic novel is more word-specific, where the pictures "don't significantly add to a largely complete text" (McCloud 153). Therefore, Pyongyang could have just been a typically written article about a journalist traveling to North Korea. However, it would have been difficult to read as pure journalism since so much of his opinion is spun into the narrative. I think it would have worked better as an op-ed, or even an essay. Overall, the graphic novel take makes the material easier to digest and accomplishes the purpose of informing people about such an enigmatic nation.

Works Cited
Delisle, Guy. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea. Drawn and Quarterly, 2004.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. HarperCollins, 1993.

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