‘전사(全史)’라는 욕망, 전사(前史)가 된 ‘최초의 정사(正史)’－노만(魯晩)의 『한국영화사』(1964)를 중심으로－

Abstract

Published in 1964 as a mimeographed edition by film historian Roh Man, The History of Korean Film can be considered the first “official history” of Korean film, establishing a research methodology based on empirical evidence and oral testimonies. While Lee Young-il’s Complete History of the Korean Film, published with the full support of the Korean Film Association in the 1960s, has been regarded as a monumental work and received considerable attention from many researchers, the earlier The History of Korean Film has not been actively cited in studies of Korean film history, both at the time of its publication and in recent years. Therefore, this paper reconstructs the context and process of the creation of The History of Korean Film, and through a comparison with major Korean film history research literature published in the 1960s, examines the historical perspective of this book. Furthermore, it seeks to uncover the reasons why Roh Man’s assertions and his The History of Korean Film were not adopted by the mainstream discourse of the time. Although not actively examined, Roh Man’s work is notable for empirically revealing errors in the mainstream film community’s understanding of the “starting point of Korean Film,” and for highlighting the significance of theoretical research and critical activities, in contrast to the mainstream film community’s emphasis on the importance of “practicing filmmakers” in the evaluation of filmmakers from the colonial period.