• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.43
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• pp.255-284
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• 2016

This article aims at a discourse analysis on the selected 1970s Myungrang Manwhas, in the cases of Ggubungi, Doggaebi Gamtu, Yochul Balmyungwang. For the analysis, the history, pre-censorship, and distribution structure of Myungrang Manwha are referenced, as well as the considerable changes and developments on the definition of 'myungrang' since the 1920s. In employing Foucauldian discourse analysis to the texts, the selected Myungrang Manwhas are analyzed as discursive formation, which emerged within the social relations of the era; the characters' dialogues are analyzed as statement. The analysis examines the discourses that the texts disseminated, and the social context of the utterance. It is demonstrated that the Myungrang Manwhas are forms of representation, which implies 'the contested acquisition on capital and power', 'the emphasis on nationalist aspects', and 'the interpellation and discipline of subject active' of the time. Moreover, it is revealed that the forms of control, such as pre-censorship, were the articulation of the will to power, which drove the discoursive formation to function as an apparatus that meticulously constituted the ruling ideology. In conclusion, the Myungrang Manwhas are rather texts that encompasses political and social context of the era than a mere comic relief.