박영준 해방 전후의 만주서사와 그 의미

Abstract

This study is to identify the significance and the position of 'Manchuria' as a place through Yeongjun Park's perspective by diachronical consideration in the context of Manchuria Narration before the Liberation by Yeongjun Park to examine how the discussion on Manchuria Narration by Park overcame bigotry rampant during the colonial period and was internalized after the Liberation to be reemerged in novels. Park's novels before the Liberation which set in Manchuria emphasize the significance of Manchuria as the continuation of Chosun in the narration of failures. This represented the result that reflected the author's self-consciousness in a sense of complete failure due to poverty and unsuccessful attempts to get a job and Manchuria is the subject for empathy for the author himself. After the Liberation, Manchuria, to Park, became a place that should be forgotten as his career at 'Hyeophwahoe' during his stay in Manchuria. Destinies of a person and a nation were considered equal and national spirit was emphasized to create empathy from the readers to protect himself from danger that his past might bring. It was not until 2 decades later that the author's past career at 'Hyeophwahoe' started to trouble him. Excuse of self-rationalization and self-reflection of atonement occur simultaneously through confessional narration during this period. The ultimate cause of excuse and reflection is to give the act of reminiscing Manchuria some kind of justification. Eventually, for Park, Manchuria is a place that he wanted to forget because it is a place that bears the pro-Japanese trace and is associated with 'Hyeophwahoe'; yet it is also a place that he could get a job and financially stable living which was not possible in Chosun at that time. It is a place that he wanted to remember as well since he could regain his dignity that he lost in Chosun and could heal himself.