• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.16
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• pp.1-20
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• 2009

This paper explores the research trends in the area of the comics studies in Korea. In this article, the 664 academic articles are examined in terms of the characteristics of the researchers, the field of comics studies, the research theme and the research methodology. This study is on the basis of the recognition that there have been no consensus on what the core essence of comics studies is. As a result, there are a few articles on the academic identity of the comics studies. The comics studies have not consider the distinctive characteristics of the Korean comics significantly. In Korea, over 50% of the academic articles on the comics have been published by comics scholarships in the field of pedagogy and human sciences. Since the 1990's, comics studies have started to consider the value of the comics positively. The comics text studies also have increased since the 1990's in Korea. The comics studies on the comics policy and comics industries have been increased since 2000. The rise of comics studies is concomitant with the increased awareness of comics in Korea. The article concludes that the comics studies need to become an independent academic discipline in the future. The interdisciplinary studies on the comics is necessary to study the diverse aspects of the comics. In addition, the infrastructure for the comics studies should be established in order to improve the comics studies.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.22
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• pp.99-112
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• 2011

Korea cartoon animation industry is recognized as a cultural content that the spread of popular culture, value-added industries. Yet in spite of external growth and support policies tend it sluggish. This aspect of the cartoon animation market status and government policy that best reveals the cultural industry held the status of Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival also not irrelevant. This study retrospect Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival that started in 1995 and enhances the scale of the cultural industry and popular culture has grown around, and tried to find a solution for establish the identity and the development plan.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.24
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• pp.1-24
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• 2011

This article is concerned with the values of the BICOF in terms of the urban revitalization. The values of the BICOF cover the economic value, social value, cultural value and city image value. The 13 indicators for measuring the values of the BICOF are developed. The article examined how the related stakeholders identified the BICOF's values on the Bucheon City by using AHP method. In addition, the objectives and programmes of the BICOF are analyzed in the perspective of the urban revitalization. As a result, the recognition of the BICOF's values varied according to the stakeholders. In addition, the result of AHP analysis indicates that the cultural values and image values should have priorities in comparison with the social values and economic values. This recognitions is different from the recent formal statements that BICOF's economic values should be emphasized as a priority. The article concludes that the identity of the BICOF should be established in the base of building the value consensus among the related stakeholders.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.32
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• pp.91-119
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• 2013

In recent years, the reader of comics get a chance to contact as well as korean comics, and foreign comics has increased to visibly. There was a relatively important progress also on international scale for mutual exchanges, but a variety of ways for the exposure of foreign comics can't help the reader to read easily the foreign comics. Socio-cultural differences also affects the choice of material, but it affects the format more fundamental. Format differences appear most, can be seen in the difference in narrative approach and medium (the book or the digital screen). This Article deals with two different comics, French and Korean comics. French comic is understood as other forms of literature, but the Korean is considered as a multi-media medium. This difference begins with cultural differences dealing with comics. It is also because the nature of the comics called hinge between the multi-media culture and culture of the books. This study will focus on the differences between the French comics which defend the value of the book and Korean Webtoons which suggest a new way in the digital environment. Through their differences, we can recognize the power of comics and can also predict its development in different medium.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.24
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• pp.83-105
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• 2011

The term "ya-o-ii" which is referred as a homosexual comics in Korea came from Japan and it became one of popular genres in both Japan and Korea's comics market. People create yo-o-ii with their own idea or borrow male characters from the pre-existed comics or animation and create a whole new story. Homosexual comics which is based on teenage readers deals with sex and focuses on homosexuality. For that reason it reflects social phenomenon than general material for comics. Before we focus on influence of homosexual comics on teenagers and social phenomenon, this study is for fundamental understanding on homosexual comics itself. In order to look into current state of homosexual comics, the survey was conducted at "Comic World" which is well known as the biggest offline comic event in Korea. This study analyzes range of age and awareness of readers of homosexual comics on the basis of the survey. Hopefully, this study helps better understand an influence of homosexual comics on teenage readers with problem of sex identity and contribute to the study of market segmentations of homosexual comics.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.23
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• pp.67-79
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• 2011

As an increasing amount of Korean animation is being produced for Hollywood films, and/or winning prizes at international animation festivals, Korean animation is proving its growth potential and competitive power. In order for such domestic cartoons and animation to stably develop and maintain firm competitive power in international markets, cartoonists and animators need programs to support their creations, and locations where they can create their works. They also keenly demand the development of various programs and support policies that fit Korea's situation. In addition, if independently produced cartoons and animations have stable locations where they can be shown and commercialized, they can receive public benefits, beyond short-term commercial effects. Based on these views, this study sheds light on the concept, formation, and vitalization of a creation space and resident program, through the intentions of a studio where young and would-be artists create their works. In addition, this study has a significant meaning in that it offers a more effective and positive policy direction, as well as more opportunities to re-educate artists. As a result, it is expected that this study will contribute toward recovering the identity of cartoons and animation, which have been recognized as commercial genres, and to firm up their competitive power in international markets. It also demonstrates that these creation spaces, beyond the simple logic in which a creation space only motivates an artist's desire to create, will help in developing Korean cartoons and animation through cultural and personal exchanges with artists of foreign countries, and through an understanding of other cultures, offer communication programs to connect Seoul and other local communities, and establish the cultural identity of local communities where such creation facilities are located. In this way, the public can more easily understand and access cartoons and animation in their daily lives through these creation spaces.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.32
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• pp.159-187
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to verify the status of current digital comics research trends and the characteristics in Korea. For this purpose, 87 articles and dissertations published between 19900 to 2012 were analysed by a meta-analysis methods. Digital comics platforms, topics, methods were examined to understand the landscape of the digital comics in Korean context. The main results of this study are as follow. First of all, the number of researches on the digital comics has been in the rise, and the various academic journals have published articles to understand the digital comics on the basis of their own academic background. Despite of the short history of digital comics researches, the range of research subjects has been broaden, and more integrated approaches have been taken from the various research fields. The content of articles, however, was skewed to a certain platform, topic and the method such as the website based comics, the text analysis, and the qualitative methodology. Thus, the more systematic and integrated approaches are needed to understand the digital comics issues and to build up the digital comics studies.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.281-318
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• 2014

This paper aims to examine women's understanding of technoscience by analyzing girls' comics(少女漫畵, Sonyeo Manhwa). The idea that women were not interested in science was a socially accepted. But this paper reveals that women are interested in science in a different way by analyzing Korean SF girls' comics. By examining an image of science in SF girls' comics in comparison to SF boys' comics(少年漫畵, Sonyeon Manhwa), this paper shows that women look technoscience through 'reflexivity' focused on 'human' and that this special character is derived from the feature of women's culture. SF girls comics have two features. First, girls comics reflect on power made by technoscience rather than describe it elaborately. And the reflexivity is expressed through a mental state, an emotion, and relations between human beings focused on a human nature, an ego, and an identity. It is different from boys comics that give weight to the mechanics and that show simple plot such as utopia or distopia, or a battle of good versus evil. Second, girls comics express technoscience as daily practices. In girls comics, some technosciences are linked to our daily lives and cartoonists and readers consider an 'essence of knowledge' together. It is different from men's view that regards knowledge as power or means.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.41
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• pp.553-578
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• 2015

The Korean society was forcefully merged with the invasion of Japan in 20th century, and traditional culture of Korea was damaged severely by colonization from Japan. After liberation, Korean society experienced drastic social change with Korean War, and industrial economy and democratic system developed as modernization and democratization occurred. However, Korean traditional culture dissolved more severely as Korean society developed industrial economy and democracy. As criticism of existing Western center of society and the emphasis of cultural identity of non-western regions and third-world, world society preferred exchange of culture of diverse nations and people with each other in advent of postmodernism thoughts in mid-late 20th century. If the cultural identity of Korea was dissolving meanwhile, it was needed to be recovered again. Despite the research in Korean history, language, art, architecture was performed to recover cultural identity of Korea, it did not go in-depth with Korean mythology, for Korean mythology is considered as superstition or savage. Mythology shows subconscious group psychology of people who live in certain specific region. Studying Korean mythology is one of the ways to rediscover cultural identity of Korea. In order for Korean mythology to be known to many people, its stories should be told by media. There were movies, plays, drama, and novels produced based on existing Korean mythology as introduction, then these mythical stories are appear in subculture contents such as recent comics, animation, webtoon, games, and light novels. Then population of game players and webtoon readers increased as dissemination of PC and smart phones, and increasing market scale of subculture contents increased a population of consumers of comics, animation, and light novel. Consumers of sub-culture contents were interested as many of these contents were created, base on Korean mythology. Therefore, this paper is written as research on Korean mythology and its signification in sub-cultural contents which were produced base on Korean mythology.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.35
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• pp.181-208
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• 2014

Kon Satoshi is a representative animation film director who explores human's intrinsic self-identity based on ambivalence and delivers a message for self-reflection of entity. The aim of this study is to analyze the persona of character according to the way how a self incorporates with another self in his film; that is to say, how a mask of the personality expresses and realizes itself from the perspectives of the Jung's analytical psychology. The persona, defined as the upmost external personality, involves social behavior playing a specific role to establish constant relationship with others in a society. With increasing demand in a society, individuals get to adapt to outer environment by playing his/her given role in various masks of personality. In this way, although persona acts as a major function in relationship with outer world, it would exert a negative influence on formation of self-identity because of the inconsistency between consciousness and unconsciousness when immersed only in mask of personality, complying excessively with the demand of group. However, persona does not always have a negative effect on relationships. Developed adequately to fulfill its social function, persona is helpful to establish a healthy self-identity with balanced control between inner world of unconsciousness and outer world of consciousness. From these perspectives, this study can identify how the desire of mask hidden inside of each character expresses to function in a positive or negative way by analyzing characters in the film according to integrated pattern and correlation between consciousness and unconsciousness. Additionally, I hope that the psychological research methods in this study will be full of help for interpreting on a character analysis as a theoretical approach.