김사량의 조선어 작품 「지기미」와 일본어 작품 「벌레」의 개작 과정에 관한 고찰 -조선인 이주 노동자 집단 거주지를 둘러싼 표현의 차이

Abstract

Kim Saryang (1914-1950?) was known as a ‘Japanese author’ during the Japanese colonial period. He entered the Japanese literary scene with the publication of “Hikari no naka ni (Into the light)” in the journal Bungeishuto (October 1939), a piece that would subsequently be nominated for the Akutagawa Prize. Until 1942, Kim Saryang wrote numerous novels to be published in Japanese magazines. Generally, he is regarded as a ‘nationalist writer’ due to the fact that “Hikari no naka ni” describes the Korean people’s dilemma of assimilation. Since his novels that have been written after 1941 do not focus on the problem of assimilation anymore, Kim Saryang is not considered a ‘nationalist writer’ in relation to his later works. This article explores the creation process of Kim Saryang’s novels by focusing on his Korean-language “Chigimi” (Samchully, April 1941) and “Mushi” (Shincho, July 1941), written in Japanese. “Chigimi” and “Mushi”, two texts that have been written in Korean and Japanese, respectively, both deal with the Korean migrant laborers’ community. However, by comparing the two pieces, it becomes apparent that they represent the Korean migrant laborers’ community quite differently and due to extensive revisions, the Japanese text’s characteristics differ greatly from its Korean counterpart. Firstly, “Chigimi”, written in Korean, does not focus on the changes in the narrator’s feeling of ‘loneliness’ when he joins the Korean migrant laborers’ community. It is also characteristic that “Chigimi” describes the spatial characteristics of the workers’ prefabricated bunkhouses in detail. On the other hand, “Mushi”, written in Japanese, focuses on the easing of the narrator’s ‘loneliness’ and descriptions of the Korean migrant laborers’ everyday lives. Here, the Korean migrant laborers’ community is presented as a ‘different world’ where people can share Korean culture. Moreover, “Mushi” refers to the Korean migrant laborers’ community as the Muslim holy places ‘Mecca’ and ‘Medina’, thus emphasizing the impression of this community as a ‘different world’ within Japan that cannot be fully subsumed into Japanese culture. Consequently, the differences between these two novels reveal the formation of Kim Saryang’s interest in the Korean migrant laborers’ community as a place where people could share Korean culture. Focusing on Kim Saryang’s interest in the Korean migrant laborers’ community thus enables us to cast a new light on Kim’s novels that were published after 1941 and reevaluate his position.