한일국교정상화 이후 김소운의 글쓰기에 나타난 ‘일본(어)’의 위상학

Abstract

This paper attempts to explain the topological position of ‘Japan(Japanese)’ in Kim So-un's writings, focusing on his essays after he returned to Korea from Japan in 1965. So far, most research on Kim So-un's literature has mainly focused on his work of Japanese colonial period. This can be attributed to his outstanding achievements of that period, which translated Korean folk songs and modern poetry into Japanese, considered the most problematic of his career. However, I would like to emphasize anew that Kim's writing and translation work continued even after the empire-colonial system was dismantled. In fact, he left a larger volume of work after Korea became independent from Japan. In particular, after returning back to homeland Korea in 1965, he was able to engage in criticism and translation work more than ever, with the help of the historical situation of Normalization of Korea-Japan Relations. Therefore, the overall image of Kim So-un's literature can be understood not only by his deeds in the colonial past but also by those after liberation, and for this, it is necessary to pay attention to his post-1965 writing. ​Most of his essays, written after 1965, correspond to a kind of “social and cultural criticism” that contains an analysis of Japanese culture inherent in Korean society, and thus take the form of diagnosing Korean society based on his knowledge of ‘Japan(Japanese).’ By examining such formal features in terms of post-colonial criticism, this paper seeks to present the possibility of a new interpretation of Kim's writings and translations.