북한에서 '근대' 영문학을 보는 시각

North Korean Perception of 'Early Modern' English Literature

The purpose of this paper is to explore how major British literary movements, notable authors, and their works are perceived and estimated in North Korea, which is known to maintain the most closed system in the world. British literary movements covered in this essay include Renaissance Humanism, Neoclassicism, Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism, with books and articles published from 1950s to 2000s in North Korea being analyzed. Although the establishment of Chuch'e ideology in mid-1960s marked the change in the nation's leading literary and artistic theory in North Korea, general perception of British literature was rather unvarying. Renaissance Humanism, Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Realism are generally thought as progressive and realistic literary movements, whereas Neoclassicism is denounced as 'reactionary' and 'anti-people' one. Notable authors who have always been held in high esteem are Shakespeare, Milton, Byron, Shelley, Dickens and Hardy.