세계문학으로의 길과 ‘일본’ - 제29차 도쿄 국제펜대회와 가와바타 야스나리의 노벨문학상 수상에 대한 반응을 중심으로

Abstract

In this study, I want to talk about how Korean literary circle has come to embrace and understand "Japan" as it travels the road to world literature. I wish to focus on the 29th PEN International Congress in Tokyo (1957) and Yasunari Kawabata's 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature for this reason. First of all, when our literary circle heard about the holding of the PEN International Congress in Tokyo, we felt fear of Japan's cultural assault and a sense of crisis to catch up with them. Meanwhile, Korea attempted to convey two messages through the PEN International Congress in Tokyo, namely, the atrocities committed by Japanese imperialists and the fact that Korea, not Japan, was the leader of liberalism. In that regard, the PEN International Congress in Tokyo was both a literary event that promoted Korean literature internationally and a political one that strengthened Korea's position as the leading liberal and anti-communist country in Cold War Asia. The PEN International Congress in Tokyo did, however, have a considerable impact on Korean literary circle. The reason is that following the PEN International Congress in Tokyo, the topic of "translating Korean literature abroad" started to get serious discussion. Then, in 1968, Kawabata Yasunari won the Nobel Prize for Literature, which had a profound impact on Korean literary circle. The Nobel Prize in Literature given to a Japanese author was seen by writers like Baek Cheol and Jo Yeon-hyeon as an instance of achieving western universality, and they engaged in a thorough discussion of the efforts that should be taken for Korean literature to do the same. As a consequence, it was established that Korean and traditional goods are universal, and the case was made that the worth of traditional goods should be preserved and replicated in a contemporary manner. The necessity for international translation, which was brought up by the PEN International Congress in Tokyo, was also brought up once more in Korea literary circle. This study reviewed how Korean literary circle understanded the PEN International Congress in Tokyo and the Yasunari Kawabata's Nobel Prize for Literature and how they shape the identity of Korean literature through the intermediary of Japan.