일제 말기 만주 조선인 아동극에 대한 고찰 —<만선일보>에 수록된 작품을 중심으로—

Abstract

This article analyzes three children’s plays of the Man Son Daily, which presumably appeared after the Sino-Japanese War. Toward the end of Japanese rule, children’s plays of Manchukuo Korean people shared several features, one of which was a storyline in which the main characters had often lost one or both parents. In this backdrop, families were often depicted as destitute, which often magnified images of poverty. In colonial cultures, the loss of one’s parents often symbolizes the loss of sovereignty. The protagonist’s poor and pitiable image mirrors the miserable lives Korean children suffered during the colonial period. On the other hand, protagonists with cheerful and courageous personalities ultimately overcome their misfortunes to rise heroes-possible evidence of an optimistic worldview. Children’s plays during this period also depicted several class-based problems, such as those between bourgeoisie and proletariats in capitalist societies, in patriarchal system, and with exploitation under colonial rule. Classism thus characterized Korean Children’s plays in Manchuria. In the later years of Japan’s colonial period, the most obvious feature of Korean children’s play was the growing tendency to metaphorically interpret their plots and themes through Christian consciousness. The Manchuria Korean children’s plays present new worlds founded on national liberation and freedom from colonial rule.