‘대동아 문학자 대회’라는 문법, 그 변형과 잔여들 -타자는 타자와 만날 수 있는가?-

Abstract

In the early 1940's, Japan began to expand its sovereignty over Asian Bloc with the aim of establishing a powerful economic empire, euphemistically described as a Greater East Asian Co-Property Sphere. It led to the change in the way of domination from discrimination (dissociation) to appeasement (assimilation). For the latter, imperial Japan forced the colonial peoples to migrate in the region. With the result, it brought about a variety of cultural borderlands. Among others were East Asian Literary Rallies, in which participants, what may be called representatives of Japanese colonies, internalized imperial textures or grammars directed by the Empire and propagated them. However, we can find that, by carefully reading their accounts, narratives, afternotes, round-table talks and the like concerning the rallies, the participations did not consist only in the following of the given directions and the rivalry in showing allegiance to the empire among the colonial peoples. Each participant was eager to interpret and transfigure the word, East Asia Co-property, in their respective situations. Chosun described itself as a transitional intermediary place. Taiwan argued that it was an outpost for the advance to the South-Eastern Asia and a colony which had a long history of being cooperative in Co-Property. Manchukuo boasted that it took the initiative in harmonizing five races. China placed itself in the rallies by showing indifference in a subtle way. In short, they shared the same characteristic with one another in that they all transformed or transfigured the subject word, East Asian Co-Property, to their respective tastes. However, they left behind residues which could not go hand in hand with the imperial constitution at the same time. For example, they acted as if they were Japanese; rather, they were more Japanese that the Japanese themselves. They wobbled at the very word Chosun or at the long colonial history of Taiwan. They made round-about criticisms by using ambiguous literary words or by pretending to be ignorant or handicapped. Those who showed these residues made themselves OTHERS who could not reconcile with the empire in any way. And the OTHERS shared empathy and compassion in the encounters of one another which could not be found in the imperially forced situations.