조선 후기 표류를 통해 ‘발견된’ 섬, 그 심상지리적 성격

Abstract

This is a successive study focused on the drift narrative in which I had been working on in order to shed new light on the East Asian marine culture. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the nature of narratives depicting an island as the ideal space. An island discovered through drifts is sometimes depicted as a space of fantasy distinguished from the mainland, or it is set as a alternative space. Throughout the process, the island functioning as a material of drifts becomes the These that drives the social reality. The island performs as a new space for alternative possibilities, however, the limitations are also evident as there still remains the inconsistency with the world outside of the sea. Through these possibilities and limitations, the islands of late Joseon Dynasty are positioned as ‘imagined geographies’ rather than a ‘human geography’ or a ‘natural geography.’ This is because although the island was fantastically conceived as an alternative space, it still remained as a romantic object due to the limitations of actualization. It is where the discordance of the imagination and the reality is confirmed. Meanwhile, the height of the ‘island story’ of the late Joseon Dynasty coincide with the ‘finding a place to live’ being sought on the mainland. Although there are differences between the two, both the ‘island story’ and the search for an alternative space on the mainland could be said to be the same move, given that the centrifugal forces are working on the center. These two issues should still be noted in the future, given that they are alternative discourse based on the social realities in the late Joseon Dynasty.