탕부(蕩婦)의 남자들과 힘의 동경 - 식민지 조선의 남성성과 욕망

Abstract

This paper analyzed the characteristics of masculinity of Korea during the colonial period. In the late 1920s, Korean literature paid attention to the question of sensuality. The expression of erotic sexuality was shaped through a femme fatale character. At the same time, various types of men have emerged around the femme fatale character. The men of femme fatale represented the diverse masculine characteristics of this era. This paper examined the desires of men, the orientation of masculinity and the cracks in masculinity revealed through femme fatale character. Some of the representative works are Choi Dok-Gyeon's Hayngwonyeomsa (Hyangwon’s Sex Diary) and Yeom Sang-seop's Yisim (Two Different Heart). Choi's novel presented the ideals of men’s ideology of the time and also suggested the escape logic of men who felt burdened with them. The Hayngwonyeomsa (Hyangwon’s Sex Diary) presented the ethics of contemporary society that men's instinctual desires should be suppressed, and at the same time, through setting up the femme fatale character, suggested the condition that the sexual desire of the male can be freely released. Yeom Sang-seop's work also expressed the desire of men that an ideal men cannot openly pursued. The male protagonist of Yisim (Two Different Heart) criticized femme fatale character, violently punished her, and finally embodied the power as a subject that was not ostensibly acceptable in contemporary society. In general, As shown in <Mr. Sunshine>, colonial masculinity is depicted as weak, helpless, and castrated thing. However, the masculinity of Korea during the colonial period, through the femme fatale character, showed the longing for the primal power of sexual desire and violence. At the same time, the society considered a rational and responsible patriarch as ideal masculinity. Colonial masculinity required two contradictory ethics: rational control and instinctive debauchery. The femme fatale figure played a role in easily solving the contradictory demands imposed on masculinity and at the same time, it showed the desire of the masculine subject to divide between demands for contradictory masculinity. This paper revealed the crack of this contradictory masculinity by examining the masculinity that appears through the femme fatale.