근대 초기 서양인들의 “한국문학의 기원” 논의 연구: 존스(G. H. Jones)의 설총·최치원 논의를 중심으로

Abstract

In the early modern Korea, many Westerners, led by Protestant missionaries, were active. Th ey initially began researching the Korean language for the purpose of translating the Bible, but soon their research topics expanded to include Korean literature. In particular, their research focused on searching for the uniqueness and origins of Korean literature. At fi rst, they considered only literature written in Hangul to be true Korean literature, but later this view changed gradually and diverged into various opinions. For example, J. S. Gale (1863~1937), H. B. Hulbert (1863~1949), and G. H. Jones (1867~1919) argued that Korean literature originated from Seol Chong (薛 聰, 655~?) and Choi Chi Won (崔致遠, 857~?), although their evaluations of each of the two scholars were diff erent. Th e subsequent research on the origins of Korean literature by Korean writers was somewhat diff erent from the research by Westerners. For example, Lee Gwang-su (李 光洙, 1892-1950) considered only literature written in Korean to be Korea’s unique literature, while Jeong Man-jo (鄭萬朝, 1858~1936), like Jones’ theory of Korean literature, viewed Choi Chi-won as the founder of Korean literature, and An Hwak (安廓, 1886-1946) sought to embrace both Korean and Chinese literature. Th ese diff erences in opinion were an eff ort to establish a Korean literary tradition based on uniqueness, but they also showed the dynamics of East Asian countries beyond national, linguistic, and cultural boundaries.