1970년대 '이조여인'의 탄생: '조국근대화'와 '민족주체성'의 타자들

Abstract

This paper analyzes the discourse on the "traditional woman" constructed under the regime of Park Jung Hee in the 1970s. From the early 1970s, "the woman of the Yi Dynasty" began to appear as the subject of many writings. The image of "the woman of the Yi Dynasty" in this period was constructed in specific ways by the state-initiated dominant discourses. The "tradition" and "woman" were portrayed abstractly as if they existed outside modernity and history. The image of "the woman of the Yi Dynasty" is not simple since she had to simultaneously perform many contradictory tasks: modernizing the fatherland while building a postcolonial nation; promoting both nationalism and developmentalism; and mobilizing and controlling women. First of all, "the woman of the Yi Dynasty," as the vessel of the pure national spirit, was the symbol of national tradition which had to be preserved. Secondly, she was, at the same time, the evidence of the "backward ethnicity" which should be overcome if modernization was to be accomplished. Thirdly, she was also made to stand out as the progressive motive power among those who believed in the immanent development of Korean history. Lastly, the portrayal of the woman of the Yi Dynasty displaying her excellent ability only "within her home" was utilized as a mechanism to control the woman who had come outside the boundary of her home. One image that wove all the complicated tangled explanations of "the woman of the Yi Dynasty" nicely together was the image of the "beautiful prisoner." The natural power of the "traditional woman" was her ability to endure the oppressive circumstance forced upon her. This paper historicizes the construction of the image of the "traditional woman" by analyzing the ways in which it was shaped in the midst of the national modernization project in the 1970s. By doing so, the paper reveals the ways in which the women in history were "othered" in the development-focused, autocratic state and dismantles the standardized form of "the woman of Yi Dynasty."