조선 유학생과 1930~31년, 東京의 수치 - 박태원의 「반년간」을 중심으로 -

Abstract

‘Half Year’ written by Park Tae-won is a novel about ‘Old Tokyo’ prior to ‘New Tokyo’ which emerged after the incorporation of adjacent army from October 1930 to March 1931. ‘New Tokyo Prior to Old Tokyo’ refers to the emergence of ‘Great Tokyo’ in 1932. In other words, the capital city grew into a 6 times bigger mega city by taking over nearby regions in October 1932. Then, it was called, ‘Great Tokyo’. Park Tae-won was very aware of changes in the city over the progress of its development plan. In this novel, therefore, Tokyo is not an abstract modern city. Instead, it was described as a specific and steric place. With this perspective, this study investigated the placeness of each region in Tokyo stated in ‘Half Year’. Koenji and Ohmori in the outskirts, Shinjuku at the border between the suburbs and Tokyo and Ginza in Tokyo have their own meaning. Koenji where Kim Chul-soo’s boardinghouse is situated, Ohmori in which Choi Jun-ho’s home is found, Shinjuku symbolizing Tokyo after the earthquake catastrophe and Hosei University, home to English literature vividly illustrates how Tokyo was viewed to Chosun students during 1930~31. In particular, the description on Ginza was deleted because of Kim Chul-soo’s consciousness of guilt on his Chosun peers. These places have complicated meanings which cannot be described under the single category ‘Tokyo’. This perception is connected with Chosun students’ awareness of reality. For them, Tokyo was a place to realize and discover their reality, not just a modern city. ‘Half Year’ presents archetypal characteristics in Park Tae-won’s novel. Therefore, a thorough review on the awareness of Tokyo’ plays a key role in analyzing the cognition of Kyungsung in his later works. To understand his literature, it is needed to further investigate his experience of Tokyo and awareness of places in his novels. This study examines the awareness of place (divided Tokyo) in ‘Half Year’.