북한 기록영화에 재현된 열병식의 의미생성 구조: <백승을 떨쳐온 무적의 열병대오>에 대한 기호학적 분석

Abstract

North Korean documentary films are produced as propaganda material for public consumption. However, this study does not view such films merely as a means of propaganda and agitation, but identifies them as a venue for production and conflict regarding the manner in which semiotics of images are represented and meanings are created and distributed. In this context, a semiotic methodology was used to analyze the “text” present in North Korean documentary films in order to determine the structure of meaning creation in parades in North Korean documentary films. The results of the analysis show that the camera techniques tend to bestow a positive image on the regime, standardizing the recreated reality as the accepted reality of the regime, and suggesting a hopeful future. Secondly, editing techniques are focused on the use of contrast editing with a binary opposition nature to strengthen the subject. To achieve this, editing methods conform to the standardized procedure of documentary film editing, but the existence of rapid editing that do not fit in the realms of traditional visual narrative grammar is also observed. This speed between visual semiotics seems to symbolize the haste required to protect the regime. Third, the sound techniques are typically overdone and the film is subordinated towards the sound. The subject of analysis depicts an anti-American ideology, stemming from the anti-imperialist designs. While acknowledging the famine during the Arduous March, they directly emphasize the importance of their political lives. Through this, they are creating and distributing a resistant ideology based on ideological superiority that asks not to expect change, despite the American suffocation policies. The results indicate that image representation in North Korean documentary films do not illustrate negative semiotics about North Korean power within the semiotic system. Moreover, the semiotics of images in the films is based on meaningful stories from the past, which are used to present a new version of history. To facilitate this, such semiotics need to show characteristics of argument and persuasion. In this regard, the characteristics of meaning creation structure of parades recreated in North Korean documentary films are as follows. First, history is reconstructed through manipulation of symbols in semiotics of images, thereby attempting to rewrite history. Second, the code of conduct of the relevant period is intuitively presented using a contradistinctive technique, actively inducing social participation of the public. Third, image representation performs the role of collectively sharing future hopes among the public. In conclusion, the North Korean documentaries are characterized by its own unique semiotics of images in the films, based on which the visual narrative grammar is founded, while surpassing the level of simplistic propaganda films. It is clear that documentary films are made such that the party’s policies form a core component of the regime.