김문집의 일본어소설 연구 ― 『아리랑 고개』를 중심으로 ―

Abstract

Kim Mun-jip's novels written in Japanese are considered to be "missing children in literature history," being neither Japanese literature nor Korean literature. They have been neglected in the margin of Korean literature. Even if his novels in Japanese are the products of an "anti-historical intellect" who was deep in "new toadyism," it cannot be ignored that his works reflect the wounds of Korean literature during the colonial days as well as his personal limitations, given the historical context behind them. That partially explains why his Japanese novels should be read. As a matter of fact, his novels in The Arirang Pass depict the inner wounds and agony of Joseon intellectuals living in the colonial days in very peculiar ways. While the author dreamed of the implementation and completion of literary ideals in the place of beauty beyond the reality, his novels clearly show that he could not be free from the reality after all. While Joseon's youths moved to Japan to learn the modern civilization of Japan or the Western modern civilization imported in Japan and returned to Joseon after learning civilization enlightenment and illumination represented by Choi Nam-seon and Lee Gwang-su, Kim returned to Joseon with estheticist art for art's sake, which places "beauty" before everything else and leads to the "aesthetics of hair" in his The Arirang Pass and his "theory of art criticism ."