| Description |
In The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters, Brian Myers writes that the numerous volumes containing Kim Il Sung's works are "more often praised than read. [A]t most [they function] as an imposing row of bookspines, a prop in [his] personality cult." This perspective suggests that the presence of the Works rather than its content is its most important characteristic. I argue that Kim's works serve a larger function by contributing to the legitimacy narrative the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) constructs about its leader. The first half of the first volume of Kim's Works covers a historical period critically important to the DPRK's legitimacy rhetoric, the period from 1930 to 1943. Kim's legitimacy as the leader of his nation stems from his guerrilla activities during the 1930s and early 1940s. Perhaps more than any other factor, this guerrilla pedigree forms the foundation for all of Kim's other virtues by which he claims right to the leadership of the DPRK. In this thesis, I examine the rhetoric about his compatriots, and the guerrilla war they are waging against the Japanese using text from the first half of the first volume of the Works. In this selection, the Works creates a narrative about these textual themes intended to help stabilize the DPRK regime during a time of great change inside and outside the country. First, the narrative seeks to reinforce Kim's right to be the DPRK's "great leader" by creating a persona for him as the epitome of a revolutionary leader. By bolstering Kim's legitimacy through the creation of this persona, it also seeks to reinforce his son's claim to the leadership of the nation after him. Second, the narrative strives to justify the DPRK's military build-up and spending and glorify military service as the highest expression of patriotism. The Works uses this persona of the guerrilla leader it creates to construct a picture of the model citizenry for the people to emulate. This model citizenry is built around the values of the guerrilla army the persona of Kim led in the 1930s and 1940s. |
