명작의 탄생: 20세기 석굴암의 신화

Abstract

How did Seokguram become a Masterpiece? This research argues that the idea of Seok-Gul-Am as a masterpiece was not developed a priori. The historical value of the Seokguram Grotto in Korean art history is undeniable. Seokguram has been well acknowledged for its architectural and technical excellence not to mention its artistic value. However, its significance may have not been recognized properly if no one had paid any attention to it. It was during the Japanese colonial period when Seokguram earned its status as masterpiece and its historical importance was highly emphasized. It is interesting to note that the people who made Seokguram the most representative masterwork and glorious monument of Korean Buddhist art were not Korean but Japanese. However, in the 1930s, Korean intellectuals began to glorify Seokguram as their proud cultural heritage. For them, Seokguram was the historical monument embodying national essence and spirit. As a result, Seokguram came to be designated as national masterwork. In order to educate Korean people as Japanese civilians, Imperial Japan included discussions and photos of Seokguram in Japanese school textbooks. The Republic of Korea, a newly established nation, also made efforts to highlight the significance of Seokguram in school textbooks for Korean language and Korean history classes. Although school curriculums have been revised many times, the significance of Seokguram as one of the greatest masterpieces in Korean art that represents national pride and spirit has not been changed. What is the significance of the facts that the writings about Seokguram have mostly been included in Korean language textbooks and that these writings are, in nature, emotional literary works rather than scholarly accounts? This has mainly been influenced by the textbook compliers who took nationalist approaches to the value of Seokguram. For them, Seokguram was the most important symbolic capital evoking the glorious past of the nation. As a result, the historical and art historical meanings of Seokguram had rarely been discussed. Due to this fervor of ethnic nationalism coupled with the dominance of political authoritarianism, Seokguram was used as a means of promoting national consciousness and identity in educational fields in Korea. Since the 1990s, when the ideological conflicts of the Cold War era came to an end, writings about Seokguram have been hardly seen in newly revised textbooks. This phenomenon coincided with the situation of the period when world-wide globalization was accelerated and fervent nationalism lost its appeal. During the 1950s when the Korea was under the tight control of Japanese influence, and the 1970s, when the Cold War between South and North Korea was intensified, both countries asserted the legitimacy of their own nations. Until the 1970’s when nationalism was emphasized and the 1980’s when the slogan of “our own” was overstressed, the education of ethnic nationalism through textbooks was fully devoted to highlighting Seokguram as national treasure. In the nationalist education system, Seokguram stood somewhere between a masterpiece and an ideological product.