Brian Reynolds Myers

Brian Reynolds "B.R." Myers (born 1963) is an American journalist and associate professor of international studies at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea, best known for his writings on North Korean propaganda. He is a contributing editor for The Atlantic and an opinion columnist for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Myers is the author of Han Sǒrya and North Korean Literature (Cornell, 1994), A Reader's Manifesto (Melville House, 2002), The Cleanest Race (Melville House, 2010), and North Korea's Juche Myth (Sthele Press, 2015).

Early life and education

Myers was born in the U.S. state of New Jersey, spent his childhood in Bermuda and his youth in South Africa, and received graduate education in Germany.^[3][4] He earned an MA degree in Soviet studies at Ruhr University (1989) and a PhD degree in Korean studies with a focus on North Korean literature at the University of Tübingen (1992). Myers subsequently taught German in Japan^[4] and worked for the Mercedes-Benz Beijing Liaison Office in 1996.^[5]

Career

Before his appointment at Dongseo University, Myers lectured in North Korean literature and society at the Korea University's North Korean Studies Department.^[6] He also taught globalization and North Korean literature at the Inje University Korean Studies Department.^[7]

Journalism

Opinion columns

Myers’ opinion columns for the Atlantic, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal generally focus on North Korea, which he says is not a Marxist-Leninist or a Stalinist state, but a "national-socialist country."^[8] He has also commented on the common view of the ROKS Cheonan sinking in South Korea with regard to its perception in North Korea.^[9]

Book reviews

His book reviews have included denunciations of American historian Bruce Cumings,^[10] American author Toni Morrison,^[11] American author Denis Johnson,^[12] and South Korean novelist Hwang Sok-yong.^[13] His most recent major review was an invective against American novelist Jonathan Franzen's celebrated novel Freedom.^[14]

Books

Myers' Han Sŏrya and the North Korean literature: The Failure of Socialist Realism in the DPRK (1994) was adapted from his 1992 dissertation at the University of Tübingen and published as the sixty-ninth volume of the Cornell East Asia Series.^[15]

A Reader’s Manifesto: An Attack on the Growing Pretentiousness in American Literary Prose (2002) was developed from his critical review essay of the same name published in the Atlantic in 2001.^[16]

The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters (2010) is a discussion on North Korean propaganda, contending that North Korea under Kim Jong Il was guided by a "paranoid, race-based nationalism with roots in Japanese fascism."^[17] Myers asserts that the North Korean political system is not based on Communism or Stalinism, and he contends that the official Juche idea is a sham ideology for foreign consumption and intended to establish Kim Il-sung's credentials as a thinker alongside Mao Zedong.^[18] Myers also claims that post-Cold War attempts to understand North Korea as a Confucian patriarchy, based on the filial piety of Kim Jong-Il and the dynastic transfer of power from his father, are misguided and that the North Korean leadership is maternalist rather than paternalist.^[19]

Reception and criticism

Myers’ book The Cleanest Race has been challenged by several academic critics, most notably including historian Charles K. Armstrong of Columbia University and historian Suzy Kim of Rutgers University.^[20] South Korean literary critic Yearn Hong Choi also regards the thesis of Myers' Han Sǒrya and North Korean Literature as erroneous:

How can Myers say that he [Han Sǒrya] is not a socialist realist? How can Myers say that Han's thought is not compatible with communist ideology? I can understand Myers’s views on orthodox socialist realism, yet I see socialist realism abundantly present in North Korean literature: North Korean writers still advocate socialist realism. Myers simply does not interpret socialist realism as they do.

— Yearn Hong Choi^[21]

Russian historian Andrei Lankov, however, found Han Sǒrya and North Korean Literature to be "very interesting"^[22] and favorably reviewed The Cleanest Race as taking a "fresh approach" on North Korea.^[23] Lankov also says Myers' work is "informative."^[24]

Felix Abt, a Swiss business affairs specialist who lived in North Korea for seven years, describes Myers' claims in The Cleanest Race as "flawed" and "shaky". Abt wrote that it was "rather absurd" to describe Juche as "window-dressing" for foreigners.^[25]

Personal life and politics

Myers is married to a South Korean woman and lives and teaches in South Korea. Politically, Myers is a supporter of the Green Party of the United States, veganism, and animal rights.^[4]

Bibliography

• Myers, Brian Reynolds (1994). Han Sǒrya and North Korean Literature: The Failure of Socialist Realism in the DPRK. Ithaca, New York: Cornell East Asia Program. ISBN 0-939657-84-8. 
• — (2002). A Reader's Manifesto: An Attack on the Growing Pretentiousness of American Literary Prose. Hoboken, New Jersey: Melville House Publishing. ISBN 0-9718659-0-6. 
• — (2010). The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters. Hoboken, New Jersey: Melville House Publishing. ISBN 978-1-933633-91-6. 
• — (2015). North Korea's Juche Myth. Busan: Sthele Press. ISBN 978-1-5087-9993-1. 

See also

• Propaganda in North Korea

References

Further reading

• Myers, B.R. (April 1, 2009). "To Beat a Dictator, Ignore Him". New York Times. 
• Myers, B.R. (May 28, 2009). "North Korea Will Never Disarm". New York Times. 
• Myers, B.R. (February 11, 2010). "The Cleanest Race". BookTV. C-SPAN. 

External links

• B.R. Myers Dongseo University Faculty Page
• Recent articles by B. R. Myers The Atlantic
• Citation of Myers' work in The Week
• An interview with B.R. Myers on Notebook on Cities and Culture