@article{ART003258047},
author={Oh, Won hwan and Nam, Seung Suk},
title={The Representation of North Korean Defector in Documentaries: Mobility and Subjectivity in Madame B and Shadow Flowers},
journal={The Journal of Multicultural Society},
issn={2005-2553},
year={2025},
volume={18},
number={3},
pages={115-156}
TY - JOUR
AU - Oh, Won hwan
AU - Nam, Seung Suk
TI - The Representation of North Korean Defector in Documentaries: Mobility and Subjectivity in Madame B and Shadow Flowers
JO - The Journal of Multicultural Society
PY - 2025
VL - 18
IS - 3
PB - Research Institute of Asian Women
SP - 115
EP - 156
SN - 2005-2553
AB - This study examines the representations of migration in the documentaries Madame B (2016) and Shadow Flowers (2019), applying mobility turn theory to analyze the complex migration experiences and subjectivity of North Korean defector women. The 21st-century concept of mobility carries an expanded meaning that extends beyond physical movement to encompass emotions, identity, and political control, and both films illuminate the lives of North Korean defector women through this multilayered mobility. Madame B portrays a woman who transforms from a human trafficking victim in China to a North Korean defector broker, practicing active mobility. While she successfully relocates her North Korean family to South Korea, her emotional ties to her Chinese husband render her another liminal figure in South Korea. Kim Ryun-hee in Shadow Flowers enters South Korea to raise money for medical treatment but becomes involuntarily detained when her return to North Korea is blocked. Despite persistent attempts at repatriation, she experiences emotional isolation, constrained by the limitations of the division system. Both films represent North Korean defector women as gendered diasporic subjects who practice life on boundaries. Madame B is portrayed as an active boundary disruptor who reconstructs her identity, while Kim Ryun-hee is depicted as a liminal figure resisting the division system. By analyzing the lives of North Korean defector women through non-linear and sensory dimensions via mobility turn theory, this study presents new possibilities for North Korean defector discourse and diaspora studies.
KW - North Korean defector women;mobility turn;diaspora;documentary;representation of migration
DO -
UR -
ER -
Oh, Won hwan and Nam, Seung Suk. (2025). The Representation of North Korean Defector in Documentaries: Mobility and Subjectivity in Madame B and Shadow Flowers. The Journal of Multicultural Society, 18(3), 115-156.
Oh, Won hwan and Nam, Seung Suk. 2025, "The Representation of North Korean Defector in Documentaries: Mobility and Subjectivity in Madame B and Shadow Flowers", The Journal of Multicultural Society, vol.18, no.3 pp.115-156.
Oh, Won hwan, Nam, Seung Suk "The Representation of North Korean Defector in Documentaries: Mobility and Subjectivity in Madame B and Shadow Flowers" The Journal of Multicultural Society 18.3 pp.115-156 (2025) : 115.
Oh, Won hwan, Nam, Seung Suk. The Representation of North Korean Defector in Documentaries: Mobility and Subjectivity in Madame B and Shadow Flowers. 2025; 18(3), 115-156.
Oh, Won hwan and Nam, Seung Suk. "The Representation of North Korean Defector in Documentaries: Mobility and Subjectivity in Madame B and Shadow Flowers" The Journal of Multicultural Society 18, no.3 (2025) : 115-156.
Oh, Won hwan; Nam, Seung Suk. The Representation of North Korean Defector in Documentaries: Mobility and Subjectivity in Madame B and Shadow Flowers. The Journal of Multicultural Society, 18(3), 115-156.
Oh, Won hwan; Nam, Seung Suk. The Representation of North Korean Defector in Documentaries: Mobility and Subjectivity in Madame B and Shadow Flowers. The Journal of Multicultural Society. 2025; 18(3) 115-156.
Oh, Won hwan, Nam, Seung Suk. The Representation of North Korean Defector in Documentaries: Mobility and Subjectivity in Madame B and Shadow Flowers. 2025; 18(3), 115-156.
Oh, Won hwan and Nam, Seung Suk. "The Representation of North Korean Defector in Documentaries: Mobility and Subjectivity in Madame B and Shadow Flowers" The Journal of Multicultural Society 18, no.3 (2025) : 115-156.
