일제 강점기 영등포 지역의 장소성과 젠더 — 1930년대 방적 여성 노동자를 중심으로 —

Abstract

Significant historical research has been conducted on Seoul, but there is still a need to examine Seoul’s history from the perspective of gender history. Colonial industrialization and urban development have been much studied, but this article seeks to shed light on Yeongdeungpo as a space for female workers. In the 1930s, as Japan made extensive capital investments in the textile industry at Yeongdeungpo, large-scale, high-tech production facilities were built, and the female workers employed in these factories became part of the city. To respond to the rapidly increasing demand for workers, the Japanese Government-General used administrative agencies to recruit females. These female workers were typically the children of poor rural families and operated as long-distance migrants. Their presence in Yeongdeungpo can be said to be characteristic of its urban space. Besides production facilities, the factories built in Yeongdeungpo also had schools, kindergartens, company residences, and dormitories. Indeed, both the companies and the colonial power touted such factories as the cutting edge of modern civilization. Whatever the image portrayed by the establishment, however, the female workers clearly felt differently, with many of them escaping from factories by climbing over the dormitory wall. Obviously, in the context of these large-scale factories, there was a significant gap between the propaganda of those who sought to control and the reality of those who resisted. This study examines how gender affects the formation and transformation of place and place identity, demonstrating that historical space is far from sexually neutral. In addition, actions such as ‘climbing the dormitory wall,’ are used to shed light on female historical agency.