동아시아의 근대와 나쓰메 소세키, 루쉰, 이광수　 - 『마음』 『광인일기』 『무정』을 통해 본 근대 지식인 -

Abstract

This study aims to understand the perceptions and resolutions of the modern East Asian Colonialism based on comparisons of the three intellects, Sōseki Natsume, Lu Xun and Kwang-su Lee, who were contextualized differently in terms of the empire, colony, and semi-colony respectively during the time. The literary works of these intellects, Kokoro, A Madman’s Diary, and Mujong are analyzed. Natsume Sōseki, an intellect of the Japanese Empire, made an analogy of the intellect who succumbed and became a loyal servant of the Meiji spirit, the imperialism, through a teacher’s moralism and romance. In his work A Madman’s Diary, Lu Xun discloses and makes accusation of the intellect who tried to resist the tradition but finally compromised with the reality. In Mujong, Kwang- su Lee makes a straightforward depiction of the intellect who educated and enlightened the public based on the knowledge gained from the West through its hero, Hyung-sik Lee. To understand the full picture of the modernity of East Asia, the literary works of these three writers - Sōseki Natsume, Lu Xun, and Kwang-su Lee - should be studied. The ultimate reason why they headed toward the literature was not the literature per se; rather, it was their strived effort to overcome their own countries’ depressing reality.