earticle

영어

In China, South and North Korea, the archetype of the “raccoon dog” has appeared as a figure that alleviates human worries and sorrows through small transformations, disguises, and humor. Thanks to this very “insignificance,” the raccoon dot remains a familiar presence for today’s people, creating room for variation, in digital art culture. The raccoon dog character is constructed differently depending on sociopolitical contexts, content creators, and contemporary issues. In China, the narrative has seen relatively little involvement from the state or capital, making the raccoon dog code less prominent. However, in the mid-to-late 2010s, the raccoon symbol spread widely as generational problems faced by the youth emerged. In Korea, raccoon dog characters are mainly driven by large corporations and the content industry, with prosumers adding variations, while the government appears as a latecomer. However, it shows weaknesses in terms of creativity and storytelling. Capital-driven approaches have a powerful but lacking long-term sustainability. In North Korea, where state-driven initiatives are strong, the raccoon dog has appeared as a model for people since the late 1980s, although anti-model depictions also coexist. This ontological hybridity reflects the resilience and vitality of the raccoon dog story, which finds ways to survive under strong political control. Due to the ambiguity and “insignificance” embedded in the raccoon dog code, it is difficult for dominant powers like capital, industry, or the state to fully absorb or standardize it into a singular image. Instead, through its ambiguity and clumsiness, the raccoon dog offers marginalized people in an era of “rationality” a way to reaffirm their existence and find the strength to move forward.