Choe Jeong-hui, who made her debut as a writer in 1931, belongs to the 2nd-phase female writer. She is classified as a modern female writer, but was active in a work for a long time enough for 「Hwatugi」, which was released in 1980, to reach the la...
Choe Jeong-hui, who made her debut as a writer in 1931, belongs to the 2nd-phase female writer. She is classified as a modern female writer, but was active in a work for a long time enough for 「Hwatugi」, which was released in 1980, to reach the last work. However, a reason that a research on Choe Jeong-hui fails to be illuminated in diverse angles is because the writer's biographical lifetime was not clarified fully. Accordingly, as this study is a work in order to clarify the whole story of Choe Jeong-hui's literary world, the aim was to reconstitute the writer's lifetime and to examine changes in a work.
It meticulously reconstituted lifetime in the whole period up to the early days, the middle years, and the latter term including infancy regarding the writer's lifetime. Especially, the infancy is judged to be important in the aspect of the original experience to Choe Jeong-hui. That is because the social consciousness, which can be said to be one characteristic in Choe Jeong-hui's literature, has deep relationship with environment in infancy and childhood. Also, the period that Choe Jeong-hui was active in a work is overlapped with the history of the modern and present times in ordeal. In its process, she ever suffered unhappy matter individually. In a sense that these experiences became matrix of Choe Jeong-hui's literature, the focus was on reconstituting the writer's lifetime that has not been known in the meantime. As a result, except the early works(1931~1935), most of Choe Jeong-hui's works could be confirmed to reflect her experience. It implies to have character of raising a problem about the contemporary reality beyond the dimension that simply reflected experience.
First of all, it is a matter related to the changes in works. As the characteristics that are shown consistently in the whole works of Choe Jeong-hui, the social consciousness(realistic consciousness) and feminine consciousness can be examined. As you know, Choe Jeong-hui directly experienced tragedy in the modern-time history up to the Japanese rule, the 6.25 Korean war, and the 4.19 Revolution. In case of Choe Jeong-hui, it has significance in having allowed what she experienced as the concerned party to be work. Accordingly, the changes in a work have the same context as an important issue in society at that time. This is what shows that Choe Jeong-hui's sight is met with reality. In the early stage of the 1930s, the clearly class consciousness is revealed that is based on the thought of socialism. Female characters, who appear in the works of this period, subjectively determine and behave in the equal position to men. In the mid-thirty something, the ideologically-oriented color in the early days shows a change little by little. With entering the latter part, the sight on women is expanded into a problem about women in diverse classes. Also, the experience of having been put into prison due to 'case of Shingeonseolsa(新建設社)' becomes an opportunity of a writer-based change. Also, the last period of Japanese rule shows history of pro-Japanese cooperation. However, as a result of examining Choe Jeong-hui's pro-Japanese editorial and novel, a point different from the discussion, which has been made so far, could be confirmed. Given seeing from the nationalist perspective, the anti-racially single conclusion is elicited. However, as a result of introducing gender-based sight, the new significance, which had not been shown in the nationalist category, is formed. It was shown as the difficulty of a woman, who had confronted severally-layered suppression such as imperialism, patriarchy, and differentiation in opportunity of education. The 6.25 Korean war following the confusion of the liberation space was very unfortunate period to Choe Jeong-hui. She directly experienced tragedy in war such as what she was cornered as the collaborating writer due to her joining Munhakga-Dongmaeng as Bidogangpa(非渡江派) including her husband Kim Dong-hwan who was kidnapped to North Korea, her younger brother who got lost, and her son who took part in a war as student soldier. Not a few works, which had been released after the 1950s, are related to the 6.25 Korean war. The characteristic of works in this period is what is taking the neutral sight even if having suffered troubles in twice regarding ideology. The works, which were released in the 1960s, are reviving Choe Jeong-hui's original experience. It is shown as a work that had background as intellects' path in life of the 1930s, which is seen to be the most important period to her, and as her autobiographical life. What returned to the most strong days of the past in the latter years of being active in a work shows that it is the most essential and internal heart to the writer.
It is a fact that Choe Jeong-hui was paid more attention as a modern female writer, and that many researches were progressed as a female writer in the 1930s. However, in a sense that many problematic works and significant works were released rather after the liberation, she can be said to be writer who requires a research on the whole of the world in works.