1920년대 독본의 양상과 근대적 글쓰기의 다층성

Abstract

This paper made a start with three kinds of problematic consciousness; first, it set out to narrow the gap between basic reader and lecture analysis conducted in the line of culture theory; secondly, it tried to revisit the writing field where language, education and culture were infused together in the 1920s based on that perspective and approach; and finally, it broadly classified the former half of the Second Chosun Education Act(1922-1937), which was the institutional foundation, in the antagonistic relationships of basic readers. Under the supervision of the new education act in the 1920s, higher general education meant the formal unification in reinforcing the colonial education system, which naturally led to the complete neglect of literary kinds or genres that were the powerful constituents of the writing field. In other words, it was not a structure to reflect the readers' demands or the changes to the cultural topography. The basic readers as the formal and institutional texts had no vital force not only in the contents but also in the reproduction structure. The virtuous cycle failed to settle down in the system, where the nature of basic readers was nothing but reflective. In the 1920s, the realistic demands of those who didn’t use the national language(Japanese) on an everyday basis concerned the basic readers to infuse and obtain the traditional culture and modern knowledge. Two great examples are the Basic Readers for Children (July, 1928) from Saebeotsa and Basic Readers for Farmers by Lee Seong-hwan from the Association of Chosun’s Farmers. The Basic Readers for Children, in particular, escaped from the rating of the Basic Readers of Korean made by the Chosun Government- General and reflected the readers’ demands actively based on the literature system. It converged the vital force severed by the Basic Readers of Korean into the literary concern and kinds and was reborn as a text with distinct colors. The desire for production and the channels of specialization of basic readers were the driving force to shift the nature of the text from reflection to production. One cannot talk about the cultural history of basic readers in the 1920s without mentioning a phenomenon called “lecture”, which is an issue closely related to the goal of creating Chosun’s modern literature. In other words, it’s a search for the possibility of “literary Korean” and “Korean-like literature.” The lecture phenomenon and the vital force of the writing methods were investigated as a systematic writing theory around Writing in Korean for Secondary School(May, 1928) by Lee Gwang-jong. It was the emergence and change of those specific writing theories that gave birth to Basic Readers for Literary Art(1931) by Lee Yun-jae.