1960년대 문학과 ‘북한’이라는 알레고리 - 한국문학은 북한을 어떻게 재현해왔는가

Abstract

This paper set out to examine the meaning of the history of North Korean representation within the history of Korean literature through literary works created by a generation of writers who led the division literature movement. In particular, it investigates the works of Choi In-hoon and Lee Ho-chul. As representative writers who took the issue of division into account, they attempted to produce literature in an exceptional and differentiated manner, defying the typical North Korean discourse that dominated at the time. Even though literature could be regarded as the product of an aesthetic passion for reproducing things that cannot be reproduced, for these writers, literary writing was particularly meaningful in that it was an attempt to take on the specific purpose of “writing things that cannot be written.” In this context, this study seeks to examine in different ways the literary dilemmas that the writers had to experience, and to provide an opportunity to cast light on the history of division literature from a new perspective. Thinking about the significance and dilemma of a generation that represented division literature is a meaningful task, in that it allows us to reflect on the various discourses and political unconscious that construct the perception of certain historical epochs.