1920년대 초기 조선에서의 ‘자연’론의 원천과 생명주의의 전개―에머슨(R. W. Emerson), 기타무라 도코쿠(北村透谷)와의 비교를 중심으로

Abstract

This paper is intended to closely examine the special viewpoint of Life-ism developed in early 1920 Joseon and to consider the source of ‘nature’ presented as the origin of Korean modern literature. This paper attempts to elucidate the undertone of ‘nature’ introduced to Korean modern literature through the influencing relationship between R. W. Emerson, a thinker of transcendentalism and Kitamura Toukoku, Japanese romantic literary man during the Meiji period. Kitamura Toukoku developed the literary theory of his own under Emerson’s influence and explored human mentality as a basic power moving external reality. He authorized the infinite power to human internal mentality by introducing ‘nature’ based on Emerson’s viewpoints which unified the human soul with natural the-soul and universal over-soul, and absolutized ‘the inner life’ escaping from the vulgar and finite reality. The ‘moment’ in time in his poems was illustrated by the sublimity elevating as infinite and eternal time and space. Similarly, Joseon literature in early 1920s introduced ‘nature’ combining with the rhetoric of ‘infinite’ and ‘eternity’ so that it could present ‘life’ escaping from the restriction of external reality, represented as old-fashioned practices and outmoded tradition. However, the poets of Joseon in early 1920s also identified the origin of life harmonizing and integrating with ego through ‘nature’. ‘Nature’ in their poems was represented as maternal world like ‘womb’ and ‘mother earth’. Therefore, the ‘nature’ in Korean modern literature has a great significant in that it shows the special viewpoint of Life-ism developed in Joseon period as well as the complexity which is not enough simply to define the influencing relationship between Japan and the West.