Guy delisle describes it as a phantom city in a hermit nation 2. Famously referred to as one of the axis of evil countries, north korea remains one of. A journey in north korea, guy delisles perspective may be one of the few such memoirs of a visit to north korea. The memoir is topical, coming at a time when interest in the goingson behind the last remaining panel of the iron curtain is high. Weve lumped guy s coworkers into one category because its hard to tell them. Delisles translator takes him on countless tours whose main purpose is the glorification of kim il sung, north koreas founder who seems eerily present although he has long passed away. Comic book memoirs of life in dangerous locations have become a minor genre. When i do these books, he says, i have the feeling im writing a long postcard to my mom. The book presents the authors personal experiences at pyongyang, the capital of north korea during his two months stay in 2001 working as a coordinator between a. Less well drawn are the inner lives of pyongyang s citizens.
Pyongyang by guy delisle, 9781897299210, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Pyongyang is a graphical record of the time cartoonist guy delisle spent working as an animator in pyongyang, becoming one of the few westerners to witness current conditions in the surreal showcase city. Delisle is trotted off to official destinations by his handlers the museum of the friendship of the nations, in which diplomatic gifts to the eternal president kim il sung are displayed in cavernous rooms where visitors must wear slippers, is the. The awardwinning cartoonist guy delisle is the author of the bestselling travelogues shenzhen, pyongyang, burma chronicles, and jerusalem. Weve lumped guys north korean guides into one category because its hard to. He has written and drawn four graphic novels, including shenzhen, an account of his travels to china. Delisle set the flowers at the base and bowed as per custom, thinking, christ, the things an animator has to do to get a gig. The title is also the name of the city where guy lives out his stay in north korea. Guy delisle on writing rituals, favourite words and not reading his own books. Sep 01, 2005 guy delisle was born in quebec city in 1966 and has spent the last decade living and working in france. As cameras are not allowed in north korea, pyongyang is a perfect example of the power of the graphic novel medium. Guy delisle s travelogue, pyongyang, takes readers on a journey to a country that has been closed off to the west for years, and instead of dispelling fears of a fascist nation oppressing its people in every means possible, it provides visual confirmation of these notions with oftendisturbing detail. Mikkonen proposes an analysis of pyongyangs use of two first persons, the.
Guy delisle was born in canadas quebec city in 1966. Sent abroad to oversee the progress of a lowbudget cartoon, canadian animator guy delisle learned that traveling to north korea means crossing not only national borders, but the boundaries of time. Pyongyang documents delisle s experiences in pyongyang, the capital of north korea, where he stayed for two months. A journey to north korea is a graphic text of guy delisle s trip to north korea. I examine the use of maps in guy delisles comic pyongyang. Todays modern wanderer might send group emails or abbreviated texts. The drawing style in pyongyang is a minimalist black and.
Jan 20, 2010 this is a trailer for the graphic novel pyongyang. According to the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,288. We believe every one of us deserves equal access to factbased news and analysis. Guy delisle has 34 books on goodreads with 101434 ratings. A journey in north korea is guy delisle s graphic novel that made his career an international. A journey in north korea is the graphic novel that made his career, an international bestseller for more than ten years. A journey in north korea, recounts his almost existential sojourn in what he aptly describes as a phantom city in a hermit nation, a showcase capital brimming with monuments, municipal halls, and museums, yet shockingly devoid of quotidian life. In early 2001 cartoonist guy delisle became one of the few westerners to be allowed access to the fortresslike country. We analyze pyongyang the book and the city more in our setting section. I wonder what tonights dream will be about, considering i have just finished pyongyang. Theres not really a plot aside from guy delisle going around looking at things and sort thinking about them. Delisle s magnificent book shows what the reality of life is there for people on the outside looking in, and i think that this book is rapidly becoming an indispensable text.
Revisualizing the map in guy delisles pyongyang erudit. Guy is a man of few words, and although he presents us with detailed pictures of life in pyongyang, he doesnt draw any explicit conclusion for us. The book is not scientific account and analyses of whats going on in the country, but what is valuable is that most books and articles about the country tend to have top down perspective centering around the regime and its politics, this book has a bottom. Guy delisle born january 19, 1966 is a canadian cartoonist and animator, best known for his graphic novels about his travels, such as shenzhen 2000, pyongyang. Buy this book in 2001, frenchcanadian cartoonist delisle traveled to north. Comicbook memoirs of life in dangerous locations have become a minor genre.
Armed with a smuggled radio and a copy of 1984, delisle could only explore pyongyang and its countryside while chaperoned by his translator and a guide. While its 2003 in the rest of the world, north korea lives in juche 92, juche being the national ideology of selfreliance, and 92 being the number of years since the conception of kim ilsung. Delisle s evocative pencil drawings are suited to depicting a colourless, twilight world in which the state is all, with his rudimentary characters inhabiting vast and much more detailed architectural environments. The main characters of this sequential art, graphic novels story are.
Pyongyang literally means flat land, and it is the capital city of north korea. He later worked for different studios in canada, germany, france, china and north korea. A journey in north korea by guy delisle, paperback. In pyongyang, frenchcanadian guy delisle arrives in the capital of communist north korea as a subcontractor for a french animation company. He shows us the sites with his lovingly rendered drawings the animators. Oct, 2006 guy delisle s new graphic novel pyongyang documents the two months he spent overseeing cartoon production in north korea.
A journey in north korea, burma chronicles, and the latest chroniques. Jul 19, 2012 pyongyang is a disturbing book that provides readers with a unique insight into north korea a country that many readers know little else about other than it being continually at odds with the western world. But among the statues, portraits and propaganda of leaders kim ilsung and his son kim jongil the worlds only communist dynasty delisle was able to observe more than was intended of the. A journey in north korea by guy delisle 176pp, jonathan cape. His bestselling and acclaimed travelogues pyongyang, jerusalem. Delisle, a french canadian cartoonist, was sent by a french animation studio to be an overseas supervisor at scientific and educational film studio of korea sek in pyongyang. For guy, this is not only a job but an opportunity to see a side of the closedoff state not many people get to see. A travelogue from china by guy delisle 148pp, jonathan cape. A journey in north korea, guy delisle s perspective may be one of the few such memoirs of a visit to north korea. I feel like over the last decade, the travel graphic novel has become crowded with pedestrian work.
The events of pyongyang surround the experiences of guy as he works an animation gig in pyongyang. Its actually pretty clean, but too clean, in fact 2. Guy delisle born january 19, 1966 is a comic book author from quebec city, quebec, canada. But i analyse your works as comics journalism, because i believe that your works are. Weve lumped guys coworkers into one category because its hard to tell them. With the new york philharmoic performing a groundbreaking concert in north korea this week, now is a great time to have students read pyongyang. Delisle became one of the few westerners to be allowed access to the fortresslike country when he was working in animation for a french company. Its a subterranean palace to the glory of publish transit. A journey in north korea is guy delisles graphic novel that made his career an international. Delisle covers a bleak two months in the eerily austere. Buy this book in 2001, frenchcanadian cartoonist delisle traveled to north korea on a work visa to supervise the.
Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. And yet when guy is taken to visit one of the great prides of the nation, the pyongyang subway, he finds marble floors, chandeliers, sculpted columns. A journey in north korea 2005 kindle edition by delisle, guy, delisle, guy. Yet, the overall tone of the book does not seem to indicate a particular bias against the. He studied animation at sheridan college in oakville, near toronto, and then worked for the animation studio cinegroupe in montreal. Comic book memoirs of life in dangerous locations have become a. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading pyongyang. Nov 29, 2010 delisle, a french canadian cartoonist, was sent by a french animation studio to be an overseas supervisor at scientific and educational film studio of korea sek in pyongyang. Here are a few things guy does during his visit to pyongyang, in no particular order. Delisles critically acclaimed memoir captures his two months spent in north korea as an animator. Delisle records the striking instances of totalitarian regime and lack of freedom through the interplay between word and image which uncannily work to destabilize what in north korea appears as standard.
Guy delisle can find humour in even the most complicated places. Guy delisles pyongyang, an illustrated account of his time in north. Delisle s images depict his sense of the obedience of north korean. A journey in north korea 2003, burma chronicles 2007, and jerusalem 2011. His employer puts him up for months at a time in cold and soulless hotel rooms where he suffers the usual maladies of the longterm boarder. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 176 pages and is available in paperback format. A westerners visit into north korea, told in the form of a graphic novel. Chronicles from the holy city, burma chronicles, and shenzhen are defining works of graphic nonfiction, and in 2012, delisle was awarded the top prize in european cartooning when the french edition of jerusalem was named best album at the angouleme international comics festival. In the end he tries to retain a shred of normalcy throwing paper airplanes from his apartment window while the people below try and hold it together in a society permeated by fear and mistrust. Delisle documents his experience in north korea accompanied by his ever present guide and his translator. The graphic novel here represents not the content but rather the.
That was 2001, preseptember 11, prenuclear threats and preaxis of evil. This video was created for my 12 grade english project. A journey in north korea is guy delisles graphic novel that made his career, an international bestseller for over ten years. Guy delisle s new graphic novel pyongyang documents the two months he spent overseeing cartoon production in north korea.
The canadian cartoonists travels to cities like pyongyang, north korea. A journey in north korea originally published as pyongyang in french by canadian cartoonist guy delisle, is a travel memoir presented in a graphic novel format. Weve lumped guy s north korean guides into one category because its hard to. May 01, 2007 guy delisle does a superb job of capturing the bleakness and bizarreness of north korea contrasting it with his own light hearted rebellious attitude. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. His most recent book is hostage, which details the kidnapping of a doctors without borders employee and appeared on bestoftheyear lists from. Comicbook memoirs of life in dangerous locations have become a.
Pyongyang documents delisles experiences in pyongyang, the capital of north korea, where he stayed for two months. His new book, pyongyang offers the same spare illustration and wry interpretation of an impossibly foreign culture, but with a blacker comedy and a much higher arched eyebrow. Pyongyang is located on the taedong river about 109 kilometers 68 mi upstream from its mouth on the yellow sea. Pyongyang is subtitled a journey in north korea, which is a bit of an exaggeration. Guy delisle does a superb job of capturing the bleakness and bizarreness of north korea contrasting it with his own light hearted rebellious attitude.
His most recent book is hostage, which details the kidnapping of a doctors without borders employee and appeared on bestoftheyear lists. A journey in north korea, a graphic novel by guy delisle translated by. The first edition of the novel was published in october 2003, and was written by guy delisle. Dec 26, 2007 in pyongyang, frenchcanadian guy delisle arrives in the capital of communist north korea as a subcontractor for a french animation company. Mar 31, 2007 north korea has become the centre of the worlds attention ever since trump took office and started his whole militaryposturing thing. Famously referred to as one of the axis of evil countries, north korea remains one of the most secretive and mysterious nations in the world today. Pyongyang shows north korea is the same as it ever was. This includes everything from the expected, like intense propaganda and odd restrictions, to the surprising, like the club for foreign workers in the korean capital. A journey in north korea by guy delisle, translated by helge dascher in another century, travelers wrote a few postcards.
A journey in north korea is a blackandwhite graphic novel by the canadian quebecois author guy delisle, published in 2004. Delisle was working for a french animation company and was sent to pyongyang to supervise the production of a childrens cartoon. Although i knew that north korea was a communist nation, the facts that delisle shares of his two months working there are quite astonishing. Delisle effectively conveys this feeling in his travelogue through deliberate panel and page composition, as well as other artistic. Everywhere, garish murals transfigure a reality that just seems drab to me. Guy delisle is a wry 37yearold french canadian cartoonist whose work for a french animation studio requires him to oversee production at various pacific rim studios on the grim frontiers of free trade. Frenchcanadian graphic novelist guy delisle has made a name for himself with his. Famously referred to as one of the axis of evil countries, north kor. But, speaking of drawings, he leaves us to draw our own conclusions. Gets into humorous misunderstandings with his translator, guide, and assistant. He shows us the sites with his lovingly rendered drawings.
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