『아이생활 』 발간 배경 연구

Abstract

In publishing a magazine, it is crucial to secure the human and financial resources to manage its editing and operation. In the 1920s to 30s’ upsurge of children’s literature magazines, the reason why so many discontinued prematurely as so-called “Issue Three Magazines” is largely because the necessary human resources and financial foundation had not been secured. Unlike other children’s literature magazines during the Japanese colonial period, The Child Life managed to publish a total of 202 issues(?) over the course of 18 years. In the context of Japanese colonial period, in addition to human and financial problems, there was the added difficulty of censorship, which makes the continuance of The Child Life that much more meaningful. Until now, The Child Life has been known to have been led and funded by Western missionaries, mainly the Korea Sunday School Association(KSSA) and the Christian Literature Society of Korea(CLSK). This is a misperception. The Child Life was founded when missionaries and Korean pastors came together after the 2nd Chosun Sunday School Conference in October 1925. The publishers include the names of missionaries, but these people did not play a central role in publishing the magazines. For most of the time, the overall work of publishing was undertaken by the Korean pastor Jeong In-gwa. The board of directors, which was the directing organization in operating the magazine, was also mostly composed of Korean pastors, and the employees of The Child Life were also Koreans. As for the finances, The Child Life did receive sponsorship of the KSSA and CLSK. However, the period during which this happened was only about six years, from October 1930 to October 1936. At the time of its inception, financial problems were resolved through Korean pastors and believers’ colleague stocks. Even once the sponsorship of KSSA and CLSK was cut off, the colleague stocks and membership fees of ‘The Child Life Support Association’ resolved the financial struggles. There were missionaries among the colleague stock members, but the number was very small compared to the Koreans, and the same went for the amount of the money they raised. Thus, it can be concluded that the central role in creating and subsequently publishing The Child Life was handled by Korean pastors and believers, and the help from missionaries was partial. KSSA was the medium in starting the magazine, and CLSK sponsored it, but it does not meet the fact to say that these two organizations played a direct leading role.