일본 출판계의 시점으로 다시 읽는 신문관･최남선

Abstract

Tanaka Mika’s (translated by Park Cheonhong) The Birth of Modern Korean Publishing Culture: Sinmungwan, Choi Namseon, and Modern Japan repositions Sinmungwan and Choi Namseon from the “perspective of the Japanese publishing world,” transcending the limitations of national history. This endeavor is significant as it shifts Shinmungwan and Choi Namseon from a ‘individual-institution’ narrative to a ‘medium-infrastructure’ context, proposing an empirical agenda for comparative publishing studies in East Asia. The author explores how Choi Namseon’s projects were formed and transformed within the constraints and possibilities of colonial infrastructure, without distinguishing between the Newspaper Office and Choi Namseon himself, but rather within the broader category of the ‘Newspaper Office era’. To this end, the author examines from multiple angles how the influence of the Japanese publishing industry was reflected in business structures, commercial strategies, and the content and format of publications, while also identifying the source texts for Shinmungwan's major publications, including Soneon(少年). Furthermore, by utilizing extensive empirical data to examine illustrations, design, and layout, it urges a reset of the “starting point” for research on newspaper publications. Through the systematic use of Japanese primary sources and network analysis with the Japanese publishing industry, it demonstrates the potential to present a compelling common language that comparative publishing studies in East Asia can share.