문학교육 정전으로서의 『만세전』 텍스트 다시 읽기

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the way the text of 『Mansejeon』 contained in high school literature textbooks is intended to be read and to propose a new direction of reading. The literature textbook interprets 『Mansejeon』 as an integrated narrative. Unlike this approach, this paper has adopted the viewpoint of reading 『Mansejeon』 as a conflicted narrative in a bid to seek the possibility of interpreting the work in a more abundant manner. The literature textbook interprets 『Mansejeon』 as one of those ‘national narrative’ and contains no more than two scenes out of the 『Mansejeon』 text. Both scenes depicted the leading character Lee In-hwa discovering the reality of his nation and people. From this perspective, the journey of the main character in 『Mansejeon』 is intended to lead him to find the reality of his nation and people. However, reading 『Mansejeon』 is anything but being fixed. The narrative in 『Mansejeon』 has cracks here and there. The incident of meeting a ‘gat’(Korean traditional hat) peddler is laid out in different direction from the description of Lee In-hwa, creating an irony. In addition, readers are also able to read the mixed feelings of the leading character Lee In-hwa in the scene where he identified colonized Joseon as a ‘grave’. The debate so far has been an attempt to decanonize the text of 『Mansejeon』 contained contained in high school literature textbooks. This will bear significant implications in that it has secured diversity in ways of interpretation in literature education.