일제 말기 李泰俊의 自傳的 글쓰기와 그 의미 –「思想의 月夜」에 나타난 수필 각색의 양상과 과도기적 자기 모색

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the Lee Tae-jun’s consciousness at the end of the Japanese colonial period by examining the aspects of the essay adaptation in the novel “The Moonlight Night of Thought”. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, colonial writers were compelled to produce works for the empire. Consequently, most writers wavered between their personal beliefs and external pressure, evident in the considerable difficulty experienced in reading novels from the end of the Japanese colonial period. This is because it is difficult to clearly explain the internal momentum for the transition from the existing literary trend to complete cooperation with Japan. These difficulties also manifest in Lee Tae-jun’s works at the end of the Japanese colonial period. In this paper, I would like to provide insights into these dynamics by studying the essay adaptation in “The Moonlight Night of Thought”. Lee Tae-jun appears to have crafted  his autobiographical novel “The Moonlight Night of Thought” by drawing on numerous of his earlier essays. In the process of the adaptation, he legitimizes the “Enlightenment” of Song-bin, the protagonist, by bringing Joseon’s “pre-modernity” to the fore. Additionally, Lee Tae-jun conceals his self-consciousness as an artist by eliminating literary ideals of his youth. This enables Lee Tae-jun to characterize his writing of the end of the Japanese colonial period as “writing for living(業筆)”, which allowed him to distance himself from his earlier writings while navigating the demands of his time.