주체사상의 형성과 북한문학

Abstract

The Juche philosophy is an original North Korean socialism different from Marx-Leninism although it is based on it. North Korean authorities claim that it was founded by Kim Il Sung in the 1930s, but it is generally believed that it was made up to justify his power and the Juche ideology, and that it was in fact conceived in the end of 1960s.The Juche ideology in North Korea emerged in the process of power struggles such as the political purges in the 1960s. In this process, the North Korean literature sided with the power and contributed to the foundation of the Juche ideology by justifying and propagating it. With the establishment of the Juche ideology, North Korea began to have a uniform system where the leader's order is the only measure of all value judgements. Accordingly, the North Korean literature has given up enjoying the variety of ideas or ideologies, and become the main means to disseminate the Juche ideology and propagate the Communist Party lines and policies. The present paper will divide the establishment process of the North Korean government into several periods, and examine each period in terms of the relationship between the Juche ideology and literature and the changes that occurred in the literature.