해방기 역사극의 새로운 징후들 - 3․1절 기념 연극대회 참가작과 ‘과정으로서의 역사쓰기’

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the modes of continuity and discontinuity in the historical plays during the post-independence period(1945~1948) in Korea and, by doing so, investigate their historicity. For this purpose, I selected three texts among the extant historical plays that were published and performed during the post-independence period that seem to have set new standards and thresholds to the history of Korean historical plays. They are Kim Nam-cheon's March 1st Movement(1946), Ham Se-deok's March 1st in the Year of Gimi(1946), and Jo Yeong-chul's Great Love(1947). All of the three plays were masterworks performed during the 'Theater Festival for the March 1st Movement Commemoration' that was held in 1946 and 1947. While Great Love can easily be categorized as a historical play since it is set against the Donghak Peasant Revolution, classifying March 1st Movement and March 1st in the Year of Gimi as historical plays is still a debated issue. When they were first performed in 1946, they were not labeled as historical plays neither by the author nor by the audience. However, or probably more because of that, my attempt to study them within the category of historical play is by itself an effort to reconstruct the historicity of the concept of historical plays. The aforementioned works have a different contextual origin from the historical plays from the colonial period, in that they were written and performed for a specific plan and objective of 'commemorating a historical event.' I examined the works performed in an official event, i.e. the Theater Festival for the March 1st Movement Commemoration, on a national holiday that was announced by the state, more precisely the original works dealing with the historical event that occurred twenty-six years ago, within the context of 'historical plays from the post-independence period' as an attempt to rewrite the history of that time period. I worked under the premise that "history of a concept cannot exist by itself, but it can only exist within a specific context of how it was used,' and paid attention to the points where differences were made within the new temporal and spatial settings of 'post-independence period,' while being in continuance with the historical plays of the colonial period. In the discourse of post-independence historical plays, a new and strong trend that emphasized the reunification of realism and history, alongside the popular historical plays that were mere reproduction of colonial period historical plays. The three historical plays in question showed diverse attempts to represent the history not as an event that was complete and objective, but one in the making; to present the hidden truth by reporting the events and presenting witnesses; and also to create truth-effect through an index of truth in relation to realistic devices although what had been created was a fictional history.