『태극학보』의 "역사담" 번역과 그 정치적 지향: 개신교와 『태극학보』의 연관성 시론

Abstract

This paper attempts the comprehensive analysis of Yeoksadam (Historical Stories), which was the key series of Taegeukhakbo published by Korean students who studied in Japan around the end of the Korean Empire. Yeoksadam was the translation of biographies of Western heros planned as a series, and carried the stories of Columbus, Bismark, Julius Caesar, and Oliver Cromwell in succession. Yeoksadam is found in 21 issues among a total of 26 issues of Taegeukhakbo, and there were no contents in this magazine comparable with Yeoksadam in terms of importance and the continuity of serial publication. Park Yong-hui who wrote Yeoksadam selected all of the four original works from Stories of World History (世界歷史談) published by Hakubunkan (博文館). While extracting and translating only very limited information from each of the original works, Park Yong-hui inserted a lot of his own utterances. Through Yeoksadam, he was able to actively speak about the political reality of Korea as well as to introduce knowledge about Western history and figures. Because Taegeukhakbo was not allowed to deal with politics or current topics publicly, it attempted to give utterance about politics through several indirect devices, among which Yeoksadam constituted a mainstay. Starting from the biography of Columbus, Yeoksadam proceeded with selecting the next figures in the process of serial publication. After successfully delivering political messages needed by Korea, by means of the biography of Bismark, Park Yong-hui finished the biography of Caesar briefly, and then hurried into publishing serially the biography of Cromwell. The final alternative selected by Park Yong-hui amid the reality of Korea facing national ruin was the concentration of national ability through Protestantism. Cromwell’s life was used as a means to motivating it. On the other hand, one who carried on the translation of the biography of Cromwell after Park Yong-hui who discontinued the series owing to his own circumstances was Kim Nak-yeong who was the 3rd President of the Taegeuk Society and wrote the most articles for Taegeukhakbo. From this, it is confirmed that the strategic selection of Cromwell was the overall orientation of Taegeukhakbo, not of a mere individual of Park Yong-hui. This is also the answer to why Taegeukhakbo placed so much emphasis on Protestantism. Their seemingly unrealistic expectation that unity based on religious belief could create a political outcome increasingly occupied the position of a powerful alternative according as invasion of Japanese imperialism was accelerated.