• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.42
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• pp.505-524
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• 2016

This study examines the ways District 9, a film released in 2009, reworks the sci-fi genre to explore the human encounter with "other" alien populations. Like Avatar, released in the same year, District 9 addresses the tropes of conflict over land and human-alien hybridity and introduces non-humans and aliens, not as invaders, but as objects of human oppression and cruelty. Unlike many other science fiction films where the encounter between humans and non-humans occurs in an unidentifiable future time and location, District 9 crosses genre barriers to engage with urban realism, producing a social critique of contemporary urban population problems. The arrival of aliens in District 9 occurs as part of the recorded human past and the film's action is carried out in the present time in the specifically identified city of Johannesburg. A distinctly anti-Hollywood film that locates the action at the street level, District 9 plays out human anxieties about contact with others by referencing the divisions and conflicts historically attached to South Africa's sprawling metropolis and its current problems of urban poverty and illegal immigrants. Focusing on how this particular urban setting frames the film, the study investigates the ways Blomkamp's sci-fi film about extra-terrestrials presents a curious postcolonial mix of aliens and immigrants surviving in abject conditions in an urban slum and forces a realistic examination of the contemporary social problems faced by South Africa's largest city and by extension other major global cities. The paper also examines the film's representation of the human-alien hybrid and its potential as a force to resist human exploitation of the other. It also claims that though the setting is highly local, District 9 speaks to a wider global audience by making obvious the exploitative practices of profit-seeking multinationals. A sci-fi film that is keen on making a social commentary on urban population conflicts, District 9 resonates with the wider sense of insecurity and fear of others that form the horizon of the uncertain and potentially violent contemporary human world.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.33
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• pp.31-53
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• 2013

In the early twentieth century, history of animation began by modern artists, they produced various experimental images with the newly invented film and cameras. Artists in the field of movie, photography, paintings and others manipulated images in motion. But as some animated movies won industrial success and popularity, they became the trend but experimental style of early animation preserved by so-called non-mainstreamers or experimental animators, counteracting commercialism. Disney animation also followed the trend by applying realistic Hollywood film style, the worse critics placed a low value on the animation and it tarnished the image, although it was profitable investment from a business standpoint. To make images realistic, they opened a drawing class that animators developed skills to imitate motions and forms from subjects in real life. Also some techniques and gizmos were used to mimic and simulate three dimensional objects and spaces, multiplane camera and compositing 3D CG images with 2D drawings. Moreover, they brought animation stories from fairly tales or folk tales, and Walt's personal interest in live-action movies, they applied Hollywood-film-like narratives and realistic visual, and harsh criticism ensued. On the surface early disney animations' potential seems to be weakened, but in reality it still exists by simplifying and exaggerating forms and color as modern arts. Disney animation employs concepts of the modernism paintings such as simplified shapes and colors to a character design, when their characters are placed together in a scene, that visual elements cause mental reaction. This modification gives a new internal experience to audiences. As conceptual colors in abstract paintings make images appeared to be flat, coloring characters with no shading make them look flat and comparing to them, background images are also appeared to be flat. On top of that, multi-perspective at background images recalls modernist paintings. This essay goes in details with the animation pioneers' works and how Disney animation developed its techniques to emulate real life and analyses color schemes, forms, and spaces in Disney animation compared with modern artists' works, in that the visual language of Disney animation reminds of impression from abstract paintings in the beginning of the twentieth centuries.

• Sijohaknonchong
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• v.43
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• pp.5-39
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• 2015

Shijo (Korean poetic form) is a representative literature genre of a short poem among the literary works of Korea in the late Chosen Dynasty. The format of Sijo is Normal-Shijo in the form of 3 verses, 6 sections and 12 sound, and the lyrics of one Normal-Shijo has within or without 45 words. But Saseol-sijo, a type of Sijo, there is a work that has more than 100 letters due to the number of lyrics were a lot increased. Among those Saseol-sijo there is a work with 'solemn and elegant feeling' borrowing some verses even from Chinese poem, using a lot of Chinese vocabulary, but there are a lot of works with 'salacious and explicit contents'. Literary work, Shijo, is used for lyrics of vocal music as Gagok (a genre of Korean vocal music for mixed female and male voices) and Sijochang, however, there are many cases that the same Sijo poem is used as lyrics of Gagok and Shijo. But those music that use Saseol-sijo as lyrics among Gagok, the vocal music, are mainly songs with 'solemn feeling' rather than 'salacious work'. This study looked into the reason why the Saseol-sijo with 'salacious and explicit contents' are hard to be used as lyrics in Gagok, confirming the fact that most music singing Saseol-sijo among Gagok that are being handed down till now use lyrics with 'solemn and elegant feeling'. The most important thing among those reasons seems to be irregularly increasing lyrics, and in accordance with accompaniment. Gagok accompanys a number of instruments the fixed melody recorded and delivered in score. So it's almost impossible to play unless it depends on the steadily made song melody and accompaniment melody according to the chosen lyrics in advanced. Also, appreciation of literary works is usually made privately through a private reading activity, but Gagok is conducted through public performance in an open space for many people. Especially, it would have been hard to sing a salacious and explicit song gathered together with men and women of different social status in social system and custom of the late of Chosen Dynasty. This study confirmed the fact that folksy and popular character that was praised for literary characteristic of Saseol-sijo can't be easily found from Saseol-sijo that was called Gagok.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.32
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• pp.209-241
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• 2016

"Women's Nong-ak (農樂, Traditional Korean music performed by farmers)" was born together with "Maiden group." This study focuses on the reason why women appeared as principal agents of Nong-ak which was almost exclusive to men previously and especially, on the appearance of women Nong-ak Artists who was previously worked in Traditional Drama Troupe. This study empirically deals with details of activities of Maiden's (娘子) Nong-ak troupes and Girls' (少女) Nong-ak troupes through newspaper articles. Women Nong-ak Artists enjoyed popularity with their peculiar attractions. Participating in Nong-ak contests and collecting money for their performances, women Nong-ak Artists learned their skills form masters of Woodo Nong-ak and attracted attention with their colorful costumes. Women of Nong-ak circle especially saw through the trend of the time, expanded their arena of activities and exercised flexibility and ability to react quickly to changing situations while mixing with various genres. In particular, young girls were mobilized to show value and marketability of Korean culture as cultural medium who decorated "Pure Nong-ak art stage." They were no different from "Pretty dolls dancing like angels" who could not purse their interest and economic benefit or incite political cause and their patrons were domestic and overseas political figures. Women artists, who put Nong-ak on the stage in the name of Maiden's (娘子) Nong-ak troupes and Girls' (少女) Nong-ak after the liberation from Japanese colonial rule, contributed to expansion of market base. Women Nong-ak artists, who dominated a century in such troupes as Sadangpae, Hyuprulsa, Maiden's (娘子) Nong-ak troupes, Girls' (少女) Nong-ak troupes and Women Nong-ak troupes, were the very heroines who overturned the conventions of "male predominance (男尊女卑)" which filled Nong-ak arena and cultivated a new tradition of Nong-ak culture.