‘고적’의 탄생-일제 시기 문화재의 제도화와 식민주의

Abstract

This paper examines the establishment of the modern concept of cultural properties and their institutionalization in Korea. For this, I reviewed the process by which the concept of cultural properties and their equivalents was established through the modern transformation of the term ‘Gojeok (Old Relics)’, and the implications of colonialism inherent in its institutionalization during the Japanese colonial period. According to the usage of Gojeok (Old Relics) in Joseonwangjosillok (Annals of the Joseon Dynasty) and various geographical books in the Joseon dynasty, Gojeok were often used to mean ‘old traces’. The selection of the lists of Gojeok depended on the historical placeness rather than the reality of existence. In the 20th century, new concepts were introduced with the emergence of modern scholarship. Although the concept of ‘Gojeok’ as modern cultural property did not yet appear in Imanishi Ryu’s field trip report in 1906, it attracted attention in that Imanishi emphasized the real existence of relics, that is, the physical traces left behind, when selecting the subject of survey. The concept of ‘Gojeok’ was introduced in the process of conducting surveys of archaeological sites and old architecture as part of the colonial investigation led by the Japanese Government-General of Korea. That point was around 1914. In Japan, ‘Sajeok (historic relics)’ was actively used to promote the ideology of the emperor system and build national identity in the process of establishing a modern nation, while in colonial Joseon, ‘Gojeok’ that excluded history was intentionally adopted. In 1916, the Act of Rules for Preserving Old Relics and Artifactswas enacted based on the concept of ‘Gojeok’. The Act was focused on the archaeological and architectural surveys as part of colonial investigation rather than preservation and protection of cultural properties in colonial Joseon. It is worth noting that the cultural properties policy established by the Japanese Government-General of Korea during the Japanese colonial period was introduced and institutionalized from a colonial perspective.