I have never visited North Korea. So long as it remains a totalitarian dictatorship, I have no intention to. However, I have always been morbidly fascinated with the Kim dynasty and the mysteries that lie beyond the borders of Pyongyang. With the country so isolated, I can only rely on second-hand accounts--mostly limited to foreigners whose perception of North Korea is colored by strictly supervised visits to the capital city--to learn more about it. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, an illustrated account of Canadian cartoonist Guy Delisle's visit to North Korea, is far from the only piece of literature I've read on the subject. But I can comfortably say that it is among the most informative, and that is largely due to the medium.
Delisle wastes no time introducing the setting. He is a foreigner in a strange, potentially hostile country. His visit is limited to the capital city of Pyongyang, and he is only permitted to travel to a few select places with the supervision of a guide. The city is too clean, too sterile, and he sees few signs of life when he isn't focused on the animation work that brought him there. His introduction to the country is met with a smile and a bouquet of flowers, but as little as he knows about this city seemingly caught in another time, he knows enough to realize that the flowers are not for him.
Delisle is quick to lay the flowers at the feet of the immortal Great Leader. In doing this, both he and his readers realize just how far this country is rooted in its oppressive traditions. Returning to his previous mention of the sterile streets of the city, we can also see a sort of uncanny effect in how North Korea is governed:
Through this visual medium, we see comparisons to the modern Western cities familiar to both Delisle and the average reader. Rather than undermine the descriptions seen in the text, the artwork complements these words showing just how different life could be under a modern dictatorship--to make no mention of the fact that this is a sanitized depiction of the country! There's a reason foreigners are typically confined to the capital city, and Delisle's work shows us that the similarities between Pyongyang and the modern cityscapes it strives to so desperately emulate only make the differences more noticeable.
Delisle wastes no time introducing the setting. He is a foreigner in a strange, potentially hostile country. His visit is limited to the capital city of Pyongyang, and he is only permitted to travel to a few select places with the supervision of a guide. The city is too clean, too sterile, and he sees few signs of life when he isn't focused on the animation work that brought him there. His introduction to the country is met with a smile and a bouquet of flowers, but as little as he knows about this city seemingly caught in another time, he knows enough to realize that the flowers are not for him.
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| Source: Delisle, Guy. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea. Drawn and Quarterly, 2005. |
Delisle is quick to lay the flowers at the feet of the immortal Great Leader. In doing this, both he and his readers realize just how far this country is rooted in its oppressive traditions. Returning to his previous mention of the sterile streets of the city, we can also see a sort of uncanny effect in how North Korea is governed:
 |
| Source: Delisle, Guy. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea. Drawn and Quarterly, 2005. |
Through this visual medium, we see comparisons to the modern Western cities familiar to both Delisle and the average reader. Rather than undermine the descriptions seen in the text, the artwork complements these words showing just how different life could be under a modern dictatorship--to make no mention of the fact that this is a sanitized depiction of the country! There's a reason foreigners are typically confined to the capital city, and Delisle's work shows us that the similarities between Pyongyang and the modern cityscapes it strives to so desperately emulate only make the differences more noticeable.
In Chapter 6 of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, McCloud describes how our culture tends to separate text and artwork in "true" literature. Pictures are for children still learning to express themselves, and by the time we reach adulthood, we are expected to communicate solely in words. But Delisle recognizes the importance of the comic form. I doubt that I will see a free North Korea in my lifetime, and it is only through the visual medium that I can learn what it looks like. Graphic journalism opens the world to people who could otherwise never see it for themselves, and Delisle's artwork, much like the towering statue of the late Kim Il-Sung, immortalizes a time and culture that needs to be seen by outsiders.
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