편집자 최남선과 『소년』이라는 매체－심급

Abstract

Ch’oe Namsŏn played a crucial role in the formation of Korean modernity as constituted by printed materials. Sonyŏn was the nexus that bound Ch’oe’s editorship to its publishing house Sinmungwan [New Literature Publishing House]. In particular, the monthly magazine allowed Ch’oe to build up his prime authority in early modern Korean print culture and contributed to the making of author-reader network in Korean society. Sonyŏn has been regard as the key player to construct modern reading community by trasmitting modern form of knowledge to its readers, sonyŏn [boys, or Koreans from younger generations]. This rests upon the premise that Sonyŏn is a transparent vehicle that carrys the content of knowledge about modernity. However, it is impossible to identify the magazine’s target reader. Furthermore, the knowledge in Sonyŏn is nothing to the extent that it contains mere everything deemed necessary for its readers to know. Ch’oe as the editor makes the media as an empty sign of materiality by collecting infinitely plural pieces of knowledge and then arranging them under the title of “Sonyŏn.” In this sense, the sonyŏn as reader is the realization of the magazine Sonyŏn’s meaning and the knowlege the magazine transmits is the magazine itself. In short, the subject of learning and knowing the knowledge comes into being at the moment of publishing of Sonyŏn. Sonyŏn, as an empty media, functions as an instance, which brings forth and regulates the social sphere of modern community that shares knowledge about modernity.