April 25, 2024

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tatiana Gabroussenko

Tatiana Gabroussenko

Tatiana Gabroussenko obtained her PhD in East Asian Studies at the Australian National University. She is currently a professor of North Korean studies at Korea University, Seoul. Her latest book, "Soldiers on the Cultural Front: Developments in the Early History of North Korean Literature and Literary Policy," was included in the Choice magazine list of Outstanding Academic Titles of 2012.

Features

A North Korean novel searches for meaning in the dramas and joys of family life

Ri Hui Chan expounds on centrality of family in way that is striking in a country that exalts leader as father of nation

Tatiana GabroussenkoTatiana GabroussenkoApril 25, 2024
Features

Newest North Korean film mimics South’s violent cinema, to disastrous results

‘A Day and a Night’ attempts to distract youth from foreign films, but in the process undermines its propaganda message

Tatiana GabroussenkoTatiana GabroussenkoJanuary 8, 2024
Analysis

How North Korean cinema betrays simmering resentment of country’s nouveau riche

2011 film uses story of a factory manager demoted to cobbler to critique rise of grassroots capitalism in country

Tatiana GabroussenkoTatiana GabroussenkoOctober 25, 2023
Features

Why North Korean films depict foreigners as ditsy Kim family worshipers

State narratives twist history to avoid glorifying outsiders, portraying even Soviet heroes as dependent on DPRK peers

Tatiana GabroussenkoTatiana GabroussenkoJuly 17, 2023
Features

Disappearing act: North Korea digitally scrubs lead actor from popular TV series

Digital recasting of Choe Ung Chol after 20 years may have been triggered by romantic escapades and political missteps

Tatiana GabroussenkoTatiana GabroussenkoApril 5, 2023
Analysis

The clumsy propaganda of North Korean radio plays

Radio networks launched under Kim Jong Un try to win hearts and minds of South Koreans but are often comically inept

Tatiana GabroussenkoTatiana GabroussenkoMarch 20, 2023
Analysis

A kinder, gentler North Korea? How the DPRK’s popular culture embraced humanism

Amid unprecedented hardships, several films and dramas promoted a surprising spirit of acceptance and forgiveness

Tatiana GabroussenkoTatiana GabroussenkoJanuary 23, 2023
Analysis

International affairs: How North Korean films portray cross-cultural romance

North Korea remains an ethnocentric state in which a person of non-Korean blood can never be an equal member of society

Tatiana GabroussenkoTatiana GabroussenkoDecember 7, 2022
Analysis

Why animal cruelty is commonplace in North Korean popular culture

While violence against humans is rare in DPRK art, films show animals as soulless creatures whose pain does not matter

Tatiana GabroussenkoTatiana GabroussenkoAugust 29, 2022
Features

How North Korea is embracing more entertaining propaganda for the TikTok era

Mini documentaries and flashy missile launch videos show Pyongyang can adapt delivery, though messages remain the same

Tatiana GabroussenkoTatiana GabroussenkoAugust 12, 2022
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