욕망·전유·균열, 1960~70년대 출판·독서계 ‘린위탕 열풍’의 이면-The Importance of Living을 중심으로

Abstract

Lin Yutang created a considerable sensation in the Korean reading and publishing market in the 1960s and 1970s. Looking at the overall publication of Lin Yu-tang literature, the publication of essay works clearly overwhelmed that of other genres such as novels. This is especially true of The Importance of Living, which became a canon with the strong efforts of the publishing industry, education and state power, and was widely accepted as “wisdom of the East” and “guidelines for life”. The active acceptance of The Importance of Living is closely related to the rise of the “nationalism” discourse and the popularity of essays on life in the publishing market at the time. Along with the publishing boom of The Importance of Living, the knowledge contained in this work was widely disseminated and absorbed in Korean society at a very rapid pace. During this period, a wide spectrum of Lin Yutang’s aphorisms appeared in the newspapers. It is important to note that the knowledge from “Lin Yutang” was not simply accepted within the specific category of “Chinese knowledge”, but was treated as universal common sense and culture(bildung). In the era of “national culture(bildung)” or “national reading”, Lin Yutang became a powerful medium for connecting specialized knowledge with the general public. The sense of leisure that he conveyed through The Importance of Living was positively accepted by female subjects and workers, also showing a dissonance with the national discourse. And Lin Yutang’s view of being more concerned with the present, the physical and personal happiness than with the future, the soul and society conformed to the collective psychology of Korean society. However, the Korean society formed a consensus with Lin Yutang at the starting point of the pursuit of happiness, enjoyment and leisure life, but it was completely at odds with the spiritual core of his “philosophy of xianshi(leisure)”.