• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.45
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• pp.187-219
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• 2009

Under the pressure of the selection of topics and the presentation rules of mass media, politics in media society increasingly resort to professionalized forms of theatrical staging as a means of self-portrayal. Although these staging methods are not contradictory to what is actually going on in politics, they strongly advantage the tendency to focus exclusively on the staging of an event. Through their competition for public attention, politicians have been developing sophistication regarding placement and staging of events as well as regarding factual information. In the process of this transformation, politics that are issue-related and based on binding decisions are being gradually transformed into symbolic politics. Moreover, through their appearance on TV, politicians first of all need to possess presentational skills which are not necessarily related to their political achievements. Still, presentational skills decide over the success in politics of those politicians. The reason is that a politician who possesses presentational skills is still being perceived as being successful even if his political achievements notedly lag behind. On the other hand, political achievements are being underrated if a politician lacks the talent to present himself in front of the media. “The staging of politics, “politainment”, on the stage of mass media is evolving into a key structure which is responsible for a new coinage of politics in all different kinds of dimensions: the selection of staff, the role of action programs and their impact for the legitimation of political acting, even in relation to therole of pivotal political institutions such as parties and parliaments in the political process. The TV debates during the Bundestag elections of the year 2002 and 2005 are being analyzed and judged as “staging of politics”(politainment). Self-dramatization in media society concerning media discourses about politics and political self-portrayal has become a basic principle of political communication. Self-dramatization is a vital challenge for adequate political communication and content-based orientation in our present media democracies.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.26
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• pp.145-171
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• 2012

The background of historical Jing-Ju is a history, but the history Chinese wants to watch on the stage is the history dramatized by talented actors/actresses, not the history they want to learn. This thesis intends to examine traditional repertories whose background is historical people or accidents, among the lots of Jing-Ju repertories by each period, grasp periods, accidents, people, etc. preferred by Chinese and examine how they were dramatized. The general characteristics of historical Jing-Ju, grasped by each period, are as follows. The first, for the reason that there are lots of historical Jing-Ju in opera repertories, it can be mentioned by Chinese descriptive tradition and historical tradition. As lots of Chinese novels and drama works were written by history, basic models are suggested and clear development is shown, so there is an aspect which is advantageous for dramatization. Also, there are lots of works whose material is history for not only opera but also drama, TV drama because of the characteristics of China where historical books such as "史記", "戰國策", etc. The second, the period which is the background of historical Jing-Ju focuses on 漢 period, 三國 period, 隋唐 period, 宋 period and 明 period. It seems to be reflected by Chinese superiority to some degree if considering Jing-Ju was extremely popular during the 民國 period. The third, there are many characters who have patriotism loyalty among the historical Jing-Ju. It seems to be the result of discovering lots of materials for appealing patriotism in the situation they were dominated by Japan and the West during the 民國 period. The forth, the most single material is "三國志" among the historical Jing-Ju. This material has the factors of traditional idea, loyalty, fidelity, etc, but there are the most interesting characters and they were popularized by novels, etc. The fifth, in the historical Jing-Ju, the contents and character forms can be sometimes changed by character's skill because character's artistic achievement can play a great role for the completion of Jing-Ju.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.42
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• pp.47-75
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• 2021

This thesis looks into the interpretation of the Korean War and mystery genre in Korea in the 1970s by analyzing the special drama , in which the theme was directly related to the Korean War, airing through MBC in 1979. It begins by finding the change in direction in the 1970s when the world of TV was dictated through the heavy censorship and the memory of the war by the government. It also looks at the intentions of the producer who was taking in the new way and the viewers who also accepted this drama and its reflections. In order to gain some insights into these issues, it compares between the drama "The Last Witness" and the original novel by Seong-jong Kim who holds the same time to see the way in which this is dramatized. The drama, "The Last Witness", was produced with a plan to generate a high-quality special drama which combined both artistry and sense of purpose. Nevertheless, as watching TV became a leisurely past-time during this period, TV dramas become more aggressive and suggestive in order to attract viewers. This ultimately was encored with obstacles due to the regime and the heavy censorship at the time. The genre of special drama that is well known in South Korea, is designed as an art form to satisfy both their unique artistry and its purpose. The conflict is seen between the key elements of the artistic drama crated by the producers and the 'encouraged' elements that often are needed to engage the viewers. Thus, more often than not, special dramas defeat the original intention of national harmony, encouraged by the regime. This is due to the 'novelty' aspect which grows from the effort of bringing enjoyment to viewers whilst also trying to achieve the artistic drama to life. Alongside this, crime element in this drama is designed in a way that visually embodies the process of deduction, becoming a new possibility to secure the reality of the times. However, it was also a paradoxical existence since it was indicated as an example of unrefined culture that lost its original intention. In that way, it is worth to think that detective suspense stories, which were not popular in Korea, influenced viewers as a tv drama series in the 1970s through the various elements that compose the genre. They went through a process of transplantation and acceptance whilst also attempting to satisfy the viewers and their encouraged elements to engage them. As is well known, crime drama in Korea has its own style by mixing anticommunism and detective reasoning. This combination is found in the way in which the genre naturally forms through the elements selected and excluded in the dramatization of "The Last Witness". The point is that the special drama "The Last Witness" can be seen as an intermediate form that shows the tendency of transformation from the detective reasoning form alongside the crime aspects as TV dramas began to include anticommunism messaging and investigation in the 1970s. In conclusion, when the detective reasoning is used as an element in a TV drama, it shows the trust of the public system and it constantly seeks the possibility of circumventing the political interpretation. The memories of the war is seen as a tool that neutralizes the dismal imaginations inscribed on the dark side of society and the system. As a result, "The Last Witness", broadcasted at the end of the Yushin regime in Korea, is a strange result which combines the logic of a special drama and the encouraged characteristics of television dramas. The viewers' desire which is the discussion about the hidden traces from the texts needs to be restored again.