한국현대시 연구의 회고와 반성

Abstract

The study on Korean modern poetry has been rare until 1960s; there were poems written by many poets, but they were not properly interpreted and evaluated. In 1970s studies on individual writers and literary history were started in full scale, and since then modern poetry becomes one of the actively studied fields. However, these massive studies have limits and problems, and this paper would like to explore them and present possible solutions about them. One major issue on Koreans modern poetry is to designate its starting point. 19th century has been regarded as the starting point of modern poetry, which was traced back to the era of Yougjo and Jungjo. This conception is based upon the idea that the end of 19th century was the era of Western and Japanese imperialism. However, this logic is also based upon the idea that economic system is changed from that of Yougjo and Jungjo to that of wealthy farm. This is materialistic viewpoint in which the superstructure is based on economic structure. Considering that Marx himself declares that superstructure - literature, law, and thought, etc. - is not necessarily determined by the basic structure, we need to review this discourse with insight. The study on Korean modern poetry has depended upon Western modern criticism. But Korean poetry is a big branch of Korean literature and culture. And Korean literature is written by Korean, not Western language. Additionally, all literary works are outputs of tradition and convention. Behind Korean literature and poems we can notice the traces of Korean Chinese poetry and Korean Chinese literature. Amongst them 律 Lű-shih(Regulated Verse) and 絶句 Chűeh-chű(Quatrain) is very important mode of Korean literature and ancient Classical Korean classic poems. To find and restore its senses the primary task in the study of Korean modern poetry.