Image: Silly-face.

Research Degree Title

Horang-i (The Korean Tiger): Portraying the Tiger in East and West through Theoretical Study and Practical Work

Supervisors

Prof GM Hardie

S Orton-Flynn (external supervisor)

Image: Camp ABC.

Aims of Investigation

This thesis undertakes:

• to portray the Horang-i in general and to compare Tiger images in Korean and Western culture, and to portray the characteristics and contradictions of particular Horang-is in studio work.

• to set out the general context of the practical work in terms of art form (humourous collage for children) and in terms of the mode of delivery (multimedia package).

• to relate the three Horang-i studio works to general contexts.

• to record the researcher’s changing experiences from working as an illustrator to working as a multimedia designer; and in developing work that is both personal and commercial (diagram of the project development and the research overview, and appendix).

• to understand the advantages and disadvantages of designing the multimedia package process.

The Horang-i (the Korean Tiger), in particular the Horang-i with a silly face, is the theme of this thesis.

The first part of the written component gives historical, cultural,and theoretical contexts to the three studio works. The place of the Horang-i in Korean history and culture is explained. A comparative study is made of portrayals of the Tiger in the West, discussing selected artists, advertising, and children’s stories. The history of collage and photomontage is discussed, focusing on the work of selected artists, and the nature and practice of humour is considered. The term “multimedia package” and associated terminology is defined and discussed after examining the delivery of stories to children historically.

The second part concerns the three multimedia packages which are part of the practical work and all related in some way to the Horang-i. Each of the three practical projects is described, feedback is included from professionals in related fields, and from children observed in interaction with the works, and in conclusion recommendations are made regarding the design of future educational multimedia packages for children. In the first of the multimedia packages, Hey! Magpie, Give Me an Egg, the Horang-i character is depicted as greedy, ferocious and silly. The “silly Horang-i’” characterisation is the basis of the second multimedia package, Horang-i with a Silly Face. The third, Let’s Go to Camp ABC, is an educational multimedia package for children linking pictographs with visual images, Chinese script characters, and written and spoken Korean: it introduces a gentle Horang-i. Each subsequent project was technically more challenging than the one preceding, the final project being the most commercial from the outset, and the most challenging in terms of organisation.

Image: Hey Magpie! Give Me an Egg.

Methods

The practical work and this thesis undertake:

• to explore through practical work and research the common theme of the Horang-i (Korean Tiger).

• to understand the “silly” nature of the traditional Horang-i by searching for equivalents in Tigers of Western culture and art, advertising, and illustration.

• to compare printed books with multimedia books, and original children’s books with adaptations to other media

• to test the practical work on children of Korean and other nationalities (ages 9-11 [+/-2]).

• to enlist comment on the commercial potential of the project from some specialists in multimedia package publishing.

Research Questions

• how can the Horang-i both be seen as powerful but depicted as “silly and kind,” and how is it depicted in Korean culture?

• how do Korean depictions of the Horang-i compare and contrast with Western images of the Tiger?

• how effective is the multimedia package, compared especially to“stand alone” products, in the context of children’s education?

• what did the illustrator discover in the course of her various changeovers, for example from static illustration to digital media?