신소설, 미완의 꿈: 이인직 『모란봉』 재독

Abstract

This paper conducts a re-reading of Moranbong (『모란봉』), serialized in 1913 in the Maeil Sinbo as a sequel to Tears of Blood (『혈의누』), to analyze the shifts in Lee In-jik’s ideological stance and the internal division of his thought, as shaped by the First Sino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese War, and the annexation of Korea by Japan. Unlike its predecessor, Tears of Blood, Moranbong centers on the triangular relationship between Gu Wan-seo, Kim Ok-ryeon, and Seo Il-sun, with its political elements entirely stripped away. Yet, beneath this narrative of the separation and reunion of couples lies Kim Ok-ryeon’s political suffering. Upon her return to Korea from the United States, Kim Ok-ryeon is compelled to abandon the modern education embodied by Gu Wan-seo in order to marry Seo Il-sun, thereby establishing a mirror relationship with Jang Ok-ryeon, a feudal victim within the narrative. Meanwhile, Lee In-jik employs metaphors from the Siege of Lüshun and the Russo-Japanese negotiations to lend Moranbong a historical dimension, particularly in depicting the conspiracies of Seo Il-sun and Seo Suk-ja. In this sense, Kim Ok-ryeon’s path to overcoming her suffering necessitates transcending the Russo-Japanese War, which implicitly negates the political realities of Korea in 1913. In the novel, ‘money’ emerges as another symbol of this rupture. Kim Ok-ryeon is interrogated about the source and legitimacy of her U.S. educational funding and is ultimately coerced into marrying Seo Il-sun, whose financial power aligns with the feudal class. However, Kim Ok-ryeon clings solely to classical moral principles, exhibiting an obsessive aversion to money, which in turn isolates the potential for modern education and enlightenment. The unraveling of Moranbong not only foreshadows the suspension of serialization and Lee In-jik’s intellectual decline, but also reflects the broader failure of Korea’s transition to modernity and the attempts to reconcile with that failure.