The Moranbong Band and Regime Consolidation in the DPRK
-
Upload
stephany-ferguson -
Category
Documents
-
view
217 -
download
0
description
Transcript of The Moranbong Band and Regime Consolidation in the DPRK
The Moranbong Band and Regime
Consolidation in the DPRK
Adam CathcartLeeds University
Source: Bundesarchiv, Berilin – SAMPO, circa 1951
Research Themes North Korean musical diplomacy (2013). “North Korea’s Cultural Diplomacy in the Early Kim Jong-un Era,” with
Steven Denney, North Korean (2009). “North Korean Hip Hop? Reflections on Musical Diplomacy and the DPRK,” Acta Koreana, Vol. 12, No. 2 (December): 1–19.
(2009). “North Korean Hip Hop? Reflections on Musical Diplomacy and the DPRK,” Acta Koreana, Vol. 12, No. 2 (December): 1–19.
North Korean music & influences since 1945
(2008). “Internationalist Culture in North Korea, 1945–1950,” with Charles Kraus, Review of Korean Studies Vol. 11, No. 3 (September) 123–148.
(2008). “Song of Youth: North Korean Music from Liberation to War,” North Korean Review, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Fall), 93–104.
North Korean leadership & purges (2015). “’Kim Jong-un Syndrome’: North Korean Commemorative Culture and the
Succession Process,” SOAS-AKS Working Papers in Korean Studies, no. 44 (London: School of Oriental and African Studies, March).
(2014). “In the Shadow of Jang Song-taek: Pyongyang’s Evolving SEZ Strategy with the Hwanggumpyeong and Wihwa Islands,” Korea Economic Institute of America Academic Paper Series, Vol. 8 (June),
Research Themes (II) Co-authored work with Pekka
Korhonen Two journal manuscripts under peer review at present
Sources Online archive of musical
performances, 2010-
North Korean defector interviews Funded via Academy of Korean Studies, “Contested Korean Identities on the
Peninsula and in Northeast China,” project.
Attendance at DPRK music performances
Participation in rehearsals of North Korean musicians (2x)
Performance of Moranbong Band music for North Korean diplomats at the British Council
Sources Arranging and performance of DPRK
music for cello and piano https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvcgcKm7xek
The “Sea of Blood” Opera in China
Source: Chengdu Daily, June 2012
Contentions Musicians are a key element in the
composition of “the North Korean elite”
The Moranbong Band is the vehicle for a limited cosmopolitanism in the DPRK
Music plays an important role in consolidating self-perception of the regime & in DPRK’s foreign media strategy
Musical ensembles not be an ideal yardstick for measuring internal turmoil – “musical chairs”
Returned Defector Pak Jong-suk with her son, identified as a conservatory professor in
Pyongyang, at her return press conference, May 2012.
Kim Jong-un & the Band, 2015
Ri Sol-ju, First Lady & Former Performer w/ Unhasu
Orchestra
Sonu Hyang-hui, former concertmaster of Moranbong Band
Mun Kyong-jin, former concertmaster of Unhasu Orchestra
Contentions (repeated) Musicians are a key element in the
composition of “the North Korean elite”
The Moranbong Band is the vehicle for a limited cosmopolitanism in the DPRK
Musical ensembles not be an ideal yardstick for measuring internal turmoil – “musical chairs”
Music plays an important role in consolidating self-perception of the regime & in DPRK’s foreign media strategy