‘문명’의 개념과 문명사 연구

Abstract

This article aims to examine the concept of the 'civilization' especially in relation to that of the 'culture' and then to propose the proper way of studying the history of civilizations. Etymologically, the meaning of the civilization is related to the 'city', while the culture is to the ruralness. But these two words have been used as the synonym until the age of the Enlightenment. After the French Revolution, German intellectuals opposing the expansion of the French 'civilization' proposed the German 'culture' as higher value. It is by them that the concept of the civilization is limited to the material and artificial aspects and that of the culture to the spiritual and creative aspects. The conceptual division was exposed radically after the World War I. But, since the World War II, this conceptual difference, even hostility disappeared. In short, the conceptual division is not universal but a German creation, and is no longer valid. Nowadays, civilization is not used as the antonym of the savagery, either. There isn't one, unique civilization, which is european. There coexist various civilizations such as european civilization, asian civilization, ancient civilization, modern civilization, etc. The meaning of culture is no longer resistant and exclusive. Surely, it should not used as such. We should be assured that the conceptual antagonism of the civilization and the culture which has been manifest in the use of the Korean intellectuals since the era of the Japanese occupation is not a fact but a fiction made by the German intellectuals. Moreover, we should not forget the historical fact that the German culturalism is responsible for the destruction of the european civilization in the twentieth century. For the historians, the useful meaning of the civilization is the movement. The civilization is movement, as is the life. Once petrified, it falls into the death. But, as it leaves a historical vestige even after the death, it can be said the civilization continues to be historically. One civilization meets inevitably another one, and, by doing so, creates another higher one. The civilization is communication, as well. No civilization is isolated. The history of civilization should aim to explain the civilization in relation to its context or its structure.