예수회 서한집『교훈적이고 호기심 어린 편지』(1702-1776)와 조선

Abstract

This study is aimed at revealing two goals: 1) to look at the circulation of letters written by Jesuit missionaries in modern Europe, and 2) to analyze the continuation of a certain Jesuit style writing tradition in the nineteenth century. In order to do this, the paper will be particularly focused on writings regarding Korea. This work will ultimately contribute to a better understanding of the role of Jesuit writing and Jesuit style writing in the ‘discovery’ of Korea by the Europeans and its significance. In modern Europe, Jesuit missionaries were among the most representative travellers due largely to the French collection of their letters, Lettres édifiantes et curieuses: the first writings that provided Europeans ‘real’ knowledge on East Asia in a continuous and regular way. The Jesuit missionaries who lived outside of Europe and used to send letters home invited contemporary European intellectuals to discover the new worlds such as China. However, the letters of the Jesuits served as reference books for travel story collections or geographical works over the centuries. In the case of Korea, of no doubt, no Jesuit missionary was sent to this ‘closed’ kingdom during the period in question; yet some texts written by Jesuit missionaries in China and Japan concerning Korea were published and distributed in Europe by channels other than an official collection. These printed pages were part of the very few documents related to Korea that the Europeans were able to acquire until the second half of the nineteenth century. In the nineteenth century where Catholic mission extra muros enjoyed fervent and popular support, the Jesuits were no longer the most influent people who provided Europeans with ‘edifying and curious’ news about the worlds outside of Europe. Moreover, the nineteenth century communicated more than modern times or was much more public than modern times. However, despite this changes, the missionary publications flourished in the nineteenth century in Europe and in the Christian world in the wake of the Edifying and Curious Letters. One publication in particular, the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith(1825-1933), a French world-wide leader of missionary periodicals, aimed at being the only authentic continuation of the Edifying Letters of the Jesuits. This observation is crucial in understanding the characteristics of missionaries’ letters distributed in large numbers during the nineteenth century: the Jesuit style travel account. Through the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, which continued to be popular, French missionaries’ letters from the Korean Mission taught Europeans about Korea. Many of these letters corresponded perfectly with travel accounts that were both ‘edifying and curious’ by Jesuit missionaries. The missionary letter must, as we know, promote and develop missionary work as well as console and edify the reader. The Edifying and Curious Letters of the Jesuits inaugurated a new era of missionary writings by offering not only consolation and edification, but also satisfy a growing curiosity about the exotic and new worlds, so that the Europeans might find the figure of ideal and typical traveller in the Jesuit text. In the nineteenth century, the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith took over. Prior to the opening of Korea, the French were among the main European authors to write about this ‘hermit’ kingdom and they were mostly Catholic missionaries. In modern times, the Jesuit missionaries working in Korea’s neighbouring countries spread knowledge about Korea throughout Europe by describing it indirectly. In the nineteenth century, the writings relating to Korea began to appear regularly and frequently by the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, the purported successor to Edifying Letters. In sum, through these missionary writings, the Europeans discovered Korea, a land of edification and curiosity.