일제말 조선인이 쓴 일본어시의 전개과정

Abstract

Ch’inil (pro－Japanese) poetry written during the wartime period is part of a shameful and sad history. Yet we should not look at this period as a dark age of Korean literature. Rather, we should try to find new meanings and historical significance in these poems that will broaden our understanding of Korean literature. Not every poet collaborated with the colonial government – in fact, numerous poets distanced themselves from writing propaganda poetry. We can categorize those poets who wrote outside the pro－Japanese circle into the following three groups. Japanese Fascism in the 1940s was a historical moment that divided people into two opposing positions: collaboration and resistance. However, we must not be tied into this binary opposition when we evaluate the period. Also, we should pay more attention to the then dominant discourse, Overcoming Modernity; which reflected the cultural discontent with western modernity addressed by many thinkers at that time. Yi Kwangsu is one intellectual whose ideas about “Overcoming Modernity” are deeply resonant in his works. The life and works of the poets I have examined to this point reflect not only the historical experience of people in colonial Korea in the 1940s; but also projects the experiences of people everywhere who lived under Fascism. In this regard, “national poetry” leads us to understand things that go far beyond national boundaries.