인물조사를 통해 본 한국 초기 ‘사회과학’ 수용주체의 구성과 성격

Abstract

The existence and activities of ‘social science’ recipients in the later Chosun Dynasty can be summarized into the following points. First, those who led the acceptance of Western ‘social science’ in the later Chosun period were mostly scholars who had studied in Japan. However, after the 1900s it was understood and introduced at a significant level by people who were educated in national modern academic institutes, and even by people with no professional educational background. This expansion of this receptive group and tendency for domestic study was demonstrated even in situations where Japan-centered academic reception was continuing, in the form of confrontation or criticism of reality. Second, social science recipients mostly entered into public office, but due to the relationship with the ‘Kaiwha(開化) party’ and characteristics of their field of study, those who majored in ‘social science’ experienced hardships in the process of entering public office. Even after entering public office, it was very difficult to ascend higher than a low to medium rank in office. This situation caused many intellectuals who studied social science to become deeply frustrated with the reality of Korean society, and this led to their criticism of the Daehan Empire and their participation in political enlightenment movements. However, this kind of political movement could not avoid compromising with the Japanese Residency-General in the reality of protective rule. Also, academically it was negligent in analyzing the fundamental reality of Korean society, which was that of an imperialist invasion, and delayed the growth into critical intellectuals. As a result, Korean society criticized political studies or legal studies as being based on a desire for public office, and negatively evaluated the academic level of this field of study. In short, the above situation faced by recipients of Western ‘social science’ in the later Chosun era shows why independent reception was difficult and why early social science recipients were taken into the colonial rule structure.