『朝鮮時報』에 보이는 미신관련 기사 고찰

Abstract

This paper examines how Japanese colonial rulers viewed Korean traditional superstitions and investigates the way they confuted the local superstitious practices, by analyzing Chosen Jiho articles covering Korean superstitions in the early 20th century. Data from the Chosen Jiho shows that the contents and viewpoints of its articles about Korean superstitions considerably varied over the 30-year period from 1914 to 1940. In the 1910s, the first phase of Japanese colonial rule over the Korean peninsula, the newspaper reported Korean superstition culture in detail, describing unique rituals and introducing neutral judgement from amostly positive viewpoints. In the 1920s, the newspaper gave information on superstitious acts concerning graves, rituals summoning rain, and practices regarding hygiene. It also informed Japanese people living in the peninsula of those issues with the growing popularity of superstition related to criminal behaviors by Japanese residents. Articles on hygiene-related superstitions and consequent crimes took the headlines in the 1930s. A better education, Beefed-up police force, and a stronger policing act were presented as solutions in the articles. It is presumed that Japanese attempts to root out local superstition through education and law enforcement achived little at that time. In conclusion, Chosen Jiho data suggests that local superstition in Korea varied by period and region, while variations of similar superstitious practices were spreaded over the period. It also seems apparent that hygiene-related superstitions had continuously become a source of criminal activities throughtout the colonial period.