Author: Angela La

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Single Hearted Unity: Art and Propaganda in the DPRK

By Angela La

In the Western World, it’s common for advertisements and company branding to trigger emotional responses so powerful that you’re compelled to believe that your purchase will improve your quality of life. Choose this and you’ll be happier, more attractive, fitter, more productive. There is almost no trace of this style of advertising in North Korea. Instead of billboards pushing subscription-based shampoos and dental insurance, there are posters reminding citizens to “wear their hair in the Socialist style” and the importance of “Koreanness.”

It’s commonplace to find propaganda techniques in Western advertisements. This ad promotes seatbelt safety by appealing to the audience’s fear, driving them towards a specific action.

Propaganda is a form of communication that is used primarily to influence an audience and further an agenda (“Propaganda.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 November 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda). In Endless Propaganda: The Advertising of Public Goods, Paul Rutherford wrote that it is a “conscious act – an accidental propaganda is an oxymoron,” meaning this method of persuasion is a deliberate act. Our modern understanding of it is that it is often biased and misleading by nature. The word conjures up brightly colored posters pushing political ideology. Many of us associate it with totalitarian governments (see Hitler, Stalin, Mao). Some great religious works may be considered propaganda, and even the Gettysburg Address, widely thought of as one of America’s great speeches, is a political tool meant to sway its readers to believe in American national purpose.

The Victor of Eucharist over Idolatry by Peter Paul Rubens, 1622. This painting aggressively promotes the Roman Catholic message.

Edward Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud, said in one of his most formative works that consciously or unconsciously, “society consents to have its choice narrowed to ideas and objects brought to its attention by propaganda of all kinds. There is consequently the vast continuous effort to capture our minds in the interest of some policy or commodity or idea” (Propaganda, 11). In the great rebranding of propaganda, Bernays renamed it “public relations,” and according to Nicholas Eastman, he was able to move “seamlessly between public and corporate forms of propaganda” (Brand Consciousness: Late Capitalism and the Marketing of Misery, 107). This earned him the nickname “father of mass modern propaganda.”

How we were sold tobacco, bacon and the ideal of thin women | by Rohan Rajiv | Medium
An example of Bernay’s public relations style.

In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), propaganda serves as one of the main forms of mass communication. To the outside world, it’s easy to see their messages as overly militarist and anti-American. (It’s hard to read an illustration of missiles pointing at Capitol Hill any other way.) But there are many messages that we don’t see, posters encouraging community bonding, economic growth, and scientific development. These overlooked images, most traditionally hand painted, offer a glimpse of another side of North Korea, an alternative to the violent scenes we typically see.

North Korea's New Video Is Only Its Latest Propaganda About Attacking the U.S. | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine
“When provoking a war of aggression, we will hit back, beginning with the US!

Even in a reclusive state, art finds a way to be cultivated and revered. From a young age, people showing signs of interest in art are encouraged to pursue professional careers in it. Persevering students earn admission to Pyongyang University of Fine Arts (PUFA), considered the highest level of art education in North Korea, where education is free and compulsory. They study the meaning and purpose of art in society, as well as the social and political importance that comes with being a professional artist in North Korea. Many go on to create monumental art pieces at historic sites and public spaces, in addition to posters, statues, ceramics and other artforms, under the guidance of the Leader, the Party, or the government.

Teen Brigade Leader by Pak Song Kil, 1980
Teen Brigade Leader by Pak Song Kil, 1980.

In a state where internet access is heavily restricted, posters serve as an effective way to communicate public essential information to everyone in the country. Many of these images depict women as leaders of industry, agriculture, and science, very different from the posters of male soldiers in anti-American and anti-Japanese propaganda. They’re also a good way to track progress in the country, with posters reflecting the current priorities of the leadership. Things like social change, economic growth and scientific advances, like the electrification of the country and agricultural revolutions, were all conveyed through this medium. Direct and blunt messages like “Improvement for seeking high-yield seeds for varieties guarantee a rich harvest” are very common, as well as messages that drive the rate of productivity.

What North Korean propaganda posters reveal - CNN Style
“Let us achieve the party’s agriculture revolution policy thoroughly and brighten the year with increased grain production.”
What North Korean propaganda posters reveal - CNN Style
“Agriculture is the first priority!”
What North Korean propaganda posters reveal - CNN Style
“Let us provide more electricity to the battlefields where we are breaking new ground!”

The artists draw from the traditions of socialist realism, a form of idealized modern realism imposed in the Soviet Union under Stalin. Typically they are hyper optimistic depictions of communist values.

Roses for Stalin by Boris Vladimirski, 1949.
"Let us bring in a rich harvest of new territory!" says a Soviet propaganda poster by Oleg Mikhailovich Sawostjuk in 1927. Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images
“Let us bring in a rich harvest of new territory!”

The style of the posters have remained remarkably unchanged since the 1950s, despite industrial and scientific advances. The composition of the images stays unsophisticated: a figure in the foreground addressing the people, and a juxtaposing background that is very well defined, drawing the viewer in and making a clear and direct connection.

A Soviet recruitment poster from the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917 says, "You! Have you signed up with the volunteers?" Photo by Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images
“You! Have you signed up with the volunteers?“
“This man is fully behind the people’s economic plan, are you?”

But even under the constraints (or “guidelines”) from the Leadership, artists are able to express themselves in a medium that is usually devoid of complex meaning and interpretation. Based on the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water, the colors used are symbolic and hold meaning with the public. The Korean primary colors, called obangsaek, are red, blue, yellow, black, and white. Red symbolizes passion, as well as socialism and aggression. Blue conveys peace and harmony, as well as integrity, often found in posters for educational purposes. Yellow represents glory and prosperity, a prominent color in posters promoting agriculture and development. Black represents darkness and evil, used in many anti-American and anti-Japanese propaganda, and conversely white is the symbol of purity.

North Korea Propaganda Goes Viral... "Let's Wash Our Hands!" | Koryo Studio
“Let’s wash our hands!” Notice the use of the color blue, a symbol of integrity and peace, in an educational poster promoting hand washing during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Let us further encourage our nation's excellent sports activities and folk games!"
“Let us further encourage our nation’s excellent sports activities and folk games!” Red is considered the color of passion, exhibited here in a poster promoting athletics.
"Let us extensively develop double cropping!"
“Let us extensively develop double cropping!” An eyecatching use of yellow/gold in a poster promoting agricultural advances.

Aside from these posters, the government also sanctions artworks like landscape and still-life paintings and prints, depicting things like cheerful students, bountiful harvests, and the North Korean revolution of the workers’ paradise. Sometimes they seem implausible from a country that practices “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations,” according to the United Nations. It’s hard to imagine North Korea as a place to admire art, and it may feel uneasy to realize that these paintings are more than just propaganda. They may not always be melodramatic war posters, propaganda can also be about bravery, innovation, and abundance, which perhaps is lacking in a country that is familiar with bouts of famine. If anything, these images complicate the one-dimensional view we often have of this country.

Proud by Kim Kuk Po, 2002
Proud by Kim Kuk Po, 2002
First Flower of the Triumphant Return by Kim Won Chol, 2003
First Flower of the Triumphant Return by Kim Won Chol, 2003

Citations

Rutherford, Paul. Endless Propaganda: The Advertising of Public Goods. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000. Print.

Bernays, Edward L. Propaganda. New York: H. Liveright, 1928. Print.

Eastman, Nicholas J. Brand Consciousness: Late Capitalism and the Marketing of Misery. Ohio: Ohio Valley Philosophy of Education Society, 2020. Print.

“Socialist Realism.” Tate, Tate Collective. Accessed 2 December 2021. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/socialist-realism

“Korean Color Symbolism.” Color Meanings, Jacob Olesen. Accessed 2 December 2021. https://www.color-meanings.com/korean-color-symbolism/

“What North Korean Propaganda Posters Reveal.” CNN Style, CNN, 1 January 2018. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/north-korea-propaganda-posters-design/index.html
“Propaganda.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 November 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda.

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Unit 2 Proposal

Cult of Personality: Art and Propaganda in the DPRK By Angela La

For my Unit 2 thesis, I have chosen to dive into the world of graphics in the everyday life of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea). I would like to explore how artists express themselves despite the strict rules, and where to draw the line between art and propaganda, if that is even possible in a country like the DPRK. These propaganda posters serve as one of the main ways to communicate to the masses where internet access is severely restricted. To the outside world, it’s easy to see them as overly militaristic and anti-American, but there can also be a more nuanced message through art in a reclusive state.

Terms for research

Kim Jong Un

Pyongyang University of Fine Art

Art IS Propaganda in North Korea

Worker’s Party

Graphics from everyday life

Socialist realism

Sources

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/north-korea-propaganda-art-socialist-realism-display

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/north-korea-propaganda-posters-design/index.html

https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/north-korea-sun-mu-propaganda/

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Confederate Statues and the Reshaping of History

After reading these articles, it’s become very clear to me that Confederate statues were never really about preserving history. In the video, President Tr*mp calls these memorials insignificant tributes to America’s past, but this is incredibly misleading. Most of these statues were erected several decades after the Civil War, and while many may argue that they symbolize the sacrifice of fallen soldiers (which, by the way, why are we glorifying soldiers as heroes in a democracy? But I digress.), they were “installed as symbols of white supremacy during periods of U.S. history when Black Americans’ civil rights were aggressively under attack,” according to Ryan Best.

During the early 1900s (and as recently as 2011!), when Southern states created laws to disenfranchise and segregate Black Americans, over 400 monuments were built in order to reshape the history of the Civil War. This effort was largely led by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (gag), a group whose purpose is to protect and revere Confederate memory after the Civil War (vomit). They claimed that their goal is to “prepare future generations of white Southerners to respect and defend the principles of the Confederacy,” according to Karen Cox, a historian and professor at the University of North Carolina. This group also denied that slavery was the central cause for the Civil War, and rejected any school textbook that says so. They praised the KKK, and gave speeches that twisted the cruel reality of American slavery and defended slave owners.

Black Americans have long understood the symbolism behind these monuments: they’re a reminder to stay in their place. Many of these were built outside of courthouses, a message of intimidation during a time when black Americans were fighting for civil rights. The people who argue that the taking down of these statues are erasing history truly don’t understand, in my opinion, just how much history has actually been erased, how Indigenous peoples and African-Americans’s histories were reshaped and erased. Hilary Green, a history professor at the University of Alabama, said that “Monuments do a very poor job in talking about history.” These are not the sources we go to in order to understand history. Removing a statue won’t change how people feel, and it won’t change what happened either. I hope, as more of these monuments are taken down, that more people will begin to ask themselves what history are we NOT telling through the worship of Confederate leaders?

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The Sickest of the Sick

Angela La

“Did you know that the lungs are considered the organs of grief?” the chiropractor asks me, slowly moving the cold diaphragm of his stethoscope across my back. He tells me to cough, and I do. I wonder what he hears. Is there something wrong with me?

My mother sits in the corner, hand on her chest and watching with a slight frown. She’s always frowning and touching her chest, like she can’t believe anything is ever happening.

“She just coughs and coughs,” she gripes to the chiropractor. “She’s sick.”

At another time and place, I’m in a restroom, squeezed into the smallest stall with my girlfriend. She’s sitting with her legs crossed on the toilet, and I’m up against the door trying to keep myself from sliding down. We’re both whacked; before this we smoked a blunt, skin-popped a couple Dilaudid ampules, and chased it with a double G&T. I need this, and I watch her work her keys in the little plastic jar, breaking up the little white rocks. Live heavy music thumps through the walls, and I’m growing impatient. I pick a lump from the jar with my fingers and crush it between my teeth. My girlfriend laughs, calls me a sicko. We rejoin the crowd, arms linked and clinging to each other, mesmerized by the light show and the crooning silhouette on stage. This is sick, man, and I’m swallowed up by the crowd, the heat, and the colors.

Somewhere else, some time later, I hear my mother and sister arguing in the hall. I’m slumped in a mechanical bed, sort of dressed in a too-big hospital gown, sort of wrapped in that scratchy not-wool kind of blanket. I stared straight ahead, feeling very tragic and suffocated by the sunlight that beat down through the window.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with her head,” my mom says. I can’t see it, but I can picture her shaking her head in disbelief, hand on her chest.

“She’s sick,” my sister pleads.

Sick is a magic word. “Sick jokes and sick cartoons, sick comics and sick singers, sick, sick, sick – till it almost made you sick,” wrote Albert Goldman. It can mean twisted or disturbed, like this Lenny Bruce joke: “Can Billy come out and play?” “You know he has no arms or legs.” “That’s ok, we just want to use him for home plate.” That’s sick, man. It can mean physically ill, like “I got sick all over the backseat of an Uber.” Or “That’s a sick kickflip:” gnarly, dope, awesome. In standard English, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, sick means “affected with disease or ill health,” as in I have a fever so I am sick. If you read from the New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, it means “excellent; wonderful. On the principle that BAD means good,” as in The Linda Ronstadt concert was sick. In my NA group, we’re not supposed to say “addict.” We come up with different ways to describe how “sick” we are, how far along the prognosis we are: I am a person with a substance use disorder. I misuse hazardous drugs and alcohol. I am in recovery. These are all to say I have a problem, an illness. Not I am the sickness.

“When confronting the power of addiction, the power of language is important to keep in mind,” said Colleen Walsh in “Revising the language of addiction.” The terms “abuse” and “abuser” have a lot of negative connotations to it; Sarah Wakeman wrote in an article for the American Society of Addiction Medication that the words imply “a willful misconduct and have been shown to increase stigma and reduce the quality of care.” Then, there’s the difference between dependency and addiction. Someone can become dependent on opioids used to treat chronic pain, meaning if they stop taking it, they will experience withdrawal. Addiction, according to the American Psychiatric Association, is a medical disorder that involves compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences. The Gateway Foundation says, “The pervasiveness of addiction replacement shows that addiction is a disease, not a bad habit.”

I line it all up on the table:

-Antibiotics

-Ketamine nasal spray

-The prescription I take to sleep

-Cough syrup with codeine

-The prescription I no longer need to take, the one I took in addition to my regular Prozac and Seroquel and the propranolol that combats the side effects of the Prozac and Seroquel

-Advil (sugar coated)

-A brown bottle of capsules filled with Chinese herbs, something to combat phlegm and wheezing

-Subscription vitamins

-Homemade smokable herb blend to help with smoking cessation

-The prescription I’m supposed to take for smoking cessation

According to my doctor, I have a lot of drive and ambition that he told me I should not confuse with well-being. He wrote in my chart that I was Classic Depressive, Substance Abuser, Articulate. He asked me how I felt, being in the psych ward, and I said I felt pretty desperate. It was the worst thing I could ever imagine, and at the same time, I couldn’t imagine it. My brain was in two pieces and I couldn’t bridge the gap. “Sick was as good a way as any to describe it,” wrote Suzanne Scanlon.

It’s a weird feeling to be a member of the unexclusive club of people who have been damaged by addiction, perpetually in recovery. The period when a person is recovering from sickness is called a convalescence. The time in this space is slow moving, we often say at the meetings to “take it one day at a time.” I wish sick only meant the thing you’re first taught it means, that it involves sneezing and coughing and chills. We use it to mean being angry all the time, not getting enough sleep, sleeping too much, hurting people and breaking promises. It’s desperate and maddening, and Supervert wrote it best: “I am taunting my future self, making my own life more painful and difficult. I do it willingly, proud of the work I do in terrorizing myself, all the while fearing the point at which it will catch up to me.” Would a healthy person do that to themself?