1950년대 아동문학의 프레임에 비친 어린이 인권 - 1950년대 『새벗』을 중심으로 -

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the image of children appearing in children’s literature in the 1950s and to explore the problem of children’s human rights. The Korean War made children orphaned, starved and lost, and affected the dignity of children. Its characteristics are as follows. First, during the Korean War, children appear in the form of an old man abandoned on an evacuation route, or an animal such as a dying chicken left unattended in a chicken coop. It can be seen that the existence of children at that time was symbolized by a mutilated image of a body that was hit by a bullet and had no skin in any part, indicating that they were the greatest victims of the war. Second, children excluded from protection due to war are represented as shoe shiners, children selling goods, housekeepers, children with disabilities, sick children, and poor children. The lives and dignity of unprotected children had to be jeopardized as they were mobilized for child labor, leading to despair, suffering and death. Third, children who exist outside the normal family, that is, children defined as ‘-s’, became objects of social hatred and discrimination. The ‘-s’, which symbolize the disgust group, were defined as having dangerous elements or inferior beings as others, and were recognized as beings to be abused or removed. Children outside the normal family defined as ‘thieves’, ‘beggars’ and ‘destitute’ were branded ‘pre-criminals’ and were subjected to double oppression as they were subjected to hate and discrimination. On the other hand, children’s literature in the 1950s reveals the limitations of not dealing with excluded beings. The point is that problems such as mixed race children, sexual violence, and single mothers were excluded and deleted like a shadow. Also, as the protagonist is mainly set as a boy, the pain of girls is reduced or excluded.