3·1 운동, 죽음과 희생의 민족서사

Abstract

During the March 1st Movement, tens of thousands of people were arrested and thousands more were injured or killed. All those deaths, injuries and sufferings were considered to be the most crucial aspect of the March 1st Movement that should be remembered and commemorated. These deaths and sacrifices of the Korean people during the March 1st Movement were also deemed the very foundation of the just cause of Korea’s independence. The overall narrative recounting the history of all those deaths and sacrifices was consumated with a symbolic tragic event and a figure who embodied it: the Je’am-ri massacre and Yu Gwan-sun. The Je’am-ri massacre was made known to the Western hemisphere right after it took place, and the world came to know the Koreans’ struggle of the March 1st Movement. All Koreans in and outside the country were enraged by the mass murder committed by the Japanese. Since the liberation, Yu Gwan-sun has been hailed by all Koreans as an iconic figure in the Korean history of resistance and sacrifice. She was honored and revered as the most representative figure of the March 1st Movement. Her story, including the Je’am-ri massacre and her own death, is now considered the most definitive national narrative of Koreans’ exertion and sacrifice. This article attempts to bridge 1910 and today. To understand all those deaths and sacrifices that occurred during the March 1st Movement on a more personal, individualized level, and to relive those memories as our very own here and now, I try to recapitulate how this national narrative of Korean sacrifice―based on the Je’am-ri massacre and Yu Gwan-sun’s death―has been formed and evolved in the past hundred years.