만주 판타지의 허상, 이주 조선인의 현실과 관찰자로서의 장혁주-『개간』을 중심으로

Abstract

Suddenly the word “Diaspora” has been widely used as a word that refers to people or a race that wander around as they could not settle down geographically or psychologically. Nowadays, however, the word has expanded socially and academically, and is referred as some sort of ‘resistance’, refusing a ‘naturally’ coerced affiliation. However, the “Diaspora” means something much more complicated. Going way back, the moment the country “Chosun” disappeared overnight and replaced by the Japanese empire after the Japanese annexation of Korea, the ‘Chosun people’ were a “Diaspora”. And many Chosun people started to lead a “nomadic life”, deciding to migrate to Manchu after being dazed by the Manchu fantasy actively promoted by the Japanese in the 1920s~30s. As proven in many studies, the Japanese empire focused on Gando and Manchu to take over China, created and disseminated the ‘Manchu fanstasy’ to the public and actively pushed forward the Manchu migration policy. After first visiting Manchu in 1939, Jang Hyuk Ju visited Manchu several more times, and this experience became the basis of the novel 『Gaegan』, released in 1943. However, due to the reasons of being a work by Jang Hyuk Ju, who is regarded as a representative pro-Japanese author, and being released in 1943, when the Japanese empire was most actively expanding, 『Gaegan』 has been devaluated without much analysis taking place. Hence, this aims to focus on the reason why the existing evaluation on Janh Hyuk Ju's 『Gaegan』 should be reconsidered and the ‘Story of Manchu’ that Jang Hyuk Ju tried to show in this novel and identify its meaning. 『Gaegan』 ended with great hope, with the Japanese embassy and Chosun farmers achieving victory as desired. However, considering that many small and large disputes took place between the Chosun people and the Chinese prior to the Manbosan incident, it could actually carry the possibility that the fight between them can resume any time. The Chosun colonists, lured by the Manchu fantasy that promised a solution to povery, chose to “wander” to a cold, rough wild land. Jang Hyuk Ju's 『Gaegan』 tells a story about the dream, hope and frustration of colonists who had no choice but to “wander”. Now we have to remember the fact that the author worked to leave a detailed story on the “nomadic life” of the Chosun colonists, which could have been ignored, despite having to take a pro-Japanese stance on the outside as 『Gaegan』 was released during a sensitive period in 1943.