The Perceptions and Description Patterns of the History of Ancient Korean Literature in Two Books on the History of Korean Literature Written in Japanese

일본 '한국문학사'에서의 한국고전문학사 인식과 서술양상

The purpose of this study is to review two books on the history of Korean literature written in Japanese, taking special interest in ancient Korean literature, examining transcultural patterns between the history of North and South Korean literature and that of Japanese literature, and thereby identifying perceptions and description patterns of the history of Korean literature from the perspective of comparative literature. This study analyzes two books with the same title The History of Joseon Literature written in Japanese by Kim Dongwook and Byeon Jaesoo. The two books are not translations of Korean books but were written in Japanese for Japanese and ethnic Korean readers in Japan. The History of Joseon Literature (1974) by Kim Dongwook mainly compares Joseon literature with Japanese literature. The History of Joseon Literature (1985) by Byeon Jaesoo, an ethnic North Korean in Japan, was written from socialistic perspectives. The two books have different standards for evaluating value of the history of Joseon literature and different perceptions about it. Due to the division between North and South Korea, the history of literature is unfolding in different ways in the two Koreas, and the two books reflect such differences. However, they have several common features. For example, they highly regard the value of literature written in Chinese characters and originality of hangga (a folk song of Silla), Hangeul (the Korean alphabet), and pansori (a form of Korean folk music in which a singer accompanied by a supportive drummer sings and chants an epic story). In addition, they both demonstrated that literature written in Hangeul and that written in Chinese characters interacted with each other as the same Korean literature. When the two books were written, the history of Korean literature had been considered a subunit of the history of East Asian or Chinese literature. However, as this study found, Kim and Byeon wrote the two books from a perspective of departing from this view based on nationalism, re-establishing the value of Korean literature, promoting Japanese people's understanding of the high quality of Korean literature, and imbuing ethnic Koreans in Japan with nationalistic pride.

본 연구는 일본에서 저술된 한국고전문학사를 중심으로 일본문학사와 남북한 문학사와의 문화횡단적 양상을 살핌으로써 한국문학사에 대한 인식과 서술양상을 규명하고자 했다. 그 분석대상은 일본인과 재일조선인을 대상으로 일본어판 "조선문학사"를 저술한 김동욱과 변재수이다. 일본문학과의 비교문학적 관점인 김동욱의 "조선문학사"(1974)와 재일조총련계로서 사회주의적 관점에서 저술한 변재수의 "조선문학사"(1985)는 자국문학사의 가치를 평가하는 기준과 인식이 서로 달랐다. 이것은 무엇보다 분단체제로 인한 남북한의 문학사가 이질적으로 전개되는 현실에서 그들의 "조선문학사"는 남북문학사의 균열상을 담아내고 있다. 하지만 그 한편으로 한문문학의 가치와 향가, 한글창제, 그리고 판소리의 독자성을 높이 평가하고 있으며, 한국문학으로서 한글문학과 한문문학이 서로 상호작용 했다는 것을 증명하고 있다는 점은 공통적이다. 뿐만 아니라 그들의 일본어판 "조선문학사"의 저술의의는 민족주의적 시각하에 일반적으로 한국문학을 중국문학의 아류라는 인식에서 벗어나 한국문학의 가치를 재정립시키고, 일본인에게는 한국문학의 우수성을 재일동포에게는 민족적 자긍심을 고취시키기 위한 노력이었다는 것을 확인할 수 있었다.