The first thing done in North Korea after the liberation in 1945 was clearing up the past affairs. Clearing up the pro-Japanese collaborators from the Japanese colonial era was carried out in an extensive scope, and the history of literature was no ex...
The first thing done in North Korea after the liberation in 1945 was clearing up the past affairs. Clearing up the pro-Japanese collaborators from the Japanese colonial era was carried out in an extensive scope, and the history of literature was no exception. There are many figures criticized or removed altogether from the history of North Korea literature for this reason, but among them, Chunwon Lee Gwang-su (or Yi Gwang-su) is the typical figure whose status has changed in each period.
However, there are no clear reasons known for Chunwon’s change in status. The biggest cause may be the closed North Korean society, and another reason may be the unfriendly nature of North Korean literature. Changes within North Korea are difficult to capture unless they are displayed as an outcome, and even when there is an actual outcome, the cause of such changes is rarely revealed. This is why it is necessary to thoroughly examine the historical facts of the time as well as the politics, society and culture.
This study selected 8 types of the history of North Korea literature published from 1956 to 2013 as the key literature. The year 1956 was selected as the starting point of this research because it was when the first history of literature written in North Korea was published after liberation. The study period is set until 2013 because this was when the latest history of literature that can be verified today was compiled. The evaluation of Chunwon first begins with completely negative review in 1956, and he is ostracized in the history of literature upon entering the 1970s. However, Chunwon is mentioned again since the late 1980s, making a comeback to the history of literature, and evaluation of him changes completely since the 1990s.
The reason why Chunwon received negative feedback and was ostracized in the history of North Korea literature is closely related to the political situation of the time. With the past affairs being cleared up after liberation, it was only natural that Chunwon received negative feedback due to the cooperation with Japan. This negation and criticism of Chunwon led to ostracism, causing his status to fall in the history of North Korea literature.
However, since 1960s, North Korea was making efforts to bridge the gap in history during the 1910s and 1920s according to the teachings of Kim Il-sung. This was the same in terms of the history of literature, and it can be assumed that there were controversies about this in North Korean literary circles apart from the political circumstances. Moreover, the emergence of ‘North Korea minjok jeiljuui’ (the Korean nation is the greatest) also seems to have had a significant effect on Chunwon’s change in status in the history of North Korea literature.
In other words, Chunwon, who had been the target of negation and criticism in the history of North Korea literature, made reappearance in history at a certain point due to the efforts to bridge the gap. At the same time, as the concept and discourse of national literature have been newly formed, exploration of contemporary literature traditions may have also served as a momentum.