북한 가요에 나타난 여성상

Images of Women in the Pop-Songs of North Korea

This paper explores women's images as represented in the popular music of North Korea and analyzes how these images are actualized in real life. This paper aims to reveal the gap which has existed between the dual views of women in North Korean society by criticizing views of women in North Korea from a feminist perspective and by examining how the gap is integrated into the political system of North Korea. North Korean society demands that women play two roles, that of chollima who are laborers equal to men, and at the same time that of "ahn-hae(wife)". Within this context the social mobilization of the female labor force is propagated as a method of ultimately solving women's problems and attaining women's liberation, but women are in reality the primary carers of children and the 'flowers of life' as the "ahn-hae(wife)" who is responsible for household labor and child rearing. In order to gain a greater understanding of women's views, the object of this study was restricted to popular songs in which women were the singers or 'storytellers' which focused on women's lives. These were gathered regardless of the dates of production release and genre. However, in order to understand more clearly views of women in North Korean music. an examination of the North Korean views of the arts based on "self-reliant" thought and the general characteristics of North Korean music is necessary. The characteristics of North Korean music can be summarized as follows: As culture and the arts are understood as a means to educate the people of the revolutionary spirit of Communism, the functions of propaganda and agitation are regarded as important objectives of music. At the same time, this needs to be engaged with the sentiments among North Koreans and a musical style which complies with the peoples' life style, emotion, and aesthetic sense. However, there is an emphasis on the selection of only 'progressive' arts and the need to support national legacies for the future development and succession to the following generations. Rock'n'roll and jazz are considered bourgeois musical genres filled with deterioration and enjoyment and officially prohibited because western music is considered to weaken and violate revolutionary spirits. As the content rather than the format of pop-songs is thought to be more important, exact pronunciation in the delivery of the lyrics and uniform singing methods are required. According to this study, pop-songs of North Korea are produced and disseminated under the directions of the policy of music based on three elements, Party(Communist Party), class and populace. In the third section of this paper, women's images as represented in North Korean pop-songs are divided into those of 'loyal women', 'waiting women', 'women in love', and 'women/femininity as parable and symbol' to critique the dichotomous vision of women. The analysis was focused on the lyrics collected by various means. The findings may be summarized as followed. First, the 'loyal women' swear their subordination and devotion to the father (Leader) as 'daughter' with utmost, extreme filial piety and loyalty. As 'filial piety' means loyalty to the Leader, the patriarchal relationship is extended to the relationship between the Leader and all women. Therefore the 'loyal women' deny their independent self-reliance with earnest and adoring attitudes toward him, which leave them in a most inferior status in vertical and hierarchical relationships with men (either the Leader of father). Second, the 'waiting women' are those who devote their life to take care of men "heros". This type of women is idealized in her role of backing men and keeping the family while consoling their men in order that they may be able to exert their utmost ability to accomplish their revolutionary tasks. Formats which include such roles as 'men leaving' and 'women maintaining' demonstrates the roles of women who are said to take charge of one wheel of the revolut