In the history of modern literature of Korea, 1930s is the times when plans and efforts for modernization the colonized Chosun's intellectuals struggled to accomplish reached the peak. The most noticeable thing in the literary phenomena in 1930s is, g...
In the history of modern literature of Korea, 1930s is the times when plans and efforts for modernization the colonized Chosun's intellectuals struggled to accomplish reached the peak. The most noticeable thing in the literary phenomena in 1930s is, generally speaking, the appearance of works which could be called 'individualism literature'. Among the works by Lee Sang, Lee Kwoang-Soo, Lee Tae-Joon, Park Tae-won, An Whoe-Nam, and Kim Nam-Cheon, etc, there were some works in which a hero thought to be the writer appears and the writer's individual experience is described. Judging from the novel ideology of that times, these works were obviously unfamiliar. The main literary idea exerting manipulative influence in 1930s were fictitious and imaginary one formed by Lee Kwoang-Soo and Kim Dong-In and the realism by KAPF. Looking from these literary ideology, those autobiographical stories in that times are lack of novel structure, thus close to essay, and the revelation of enervated writer mind. The paper is aimed at re-recognizing those autobiographical narrations disparaged by the critical discourse in that times.
The paper analyzed His autobiography and I by Lee Kwoang-Soo and Lee Sang's autobiographical short stories. Lee Kwoang-Soo wrote his autobiographical stories with the purpose of passion forward the new life by penitence. He arranged and re-interpreted his memories, and identified newly his ego in His autobiography and I. The fact that the first part of his autobiographical stones is devoted to his individual experience and the latter part goes fictitious and imaginary tells that a new description proper to newly structured ego is needed. He had an desire to restructure his ego as a modern hero in philosophy of History. Lee Kwoang-Soo understood such ego as modern hero that ego completed in writing a novel, ego completed by romantic love, and ego completed by ascetic behavior such as repressing sexual and worldly desire. According to Michel Foucault, "Modernity is an attitude to understand heroic aspect of modern times". That is, "Modernity is an intention to make modern times a hero". Ego that Lee Kwoang-Soo intended to form in his autobiographical stories is an ego as a modern hero. But the fact that the final goal of his literature was 'policy tells that aesthetic construct in his works is aesthetic ideology. The fact that his ascertained literature contained 'Chosun literature' and his romantic loves contained medical disciplines and eugenics tells that he was more devoted himself to modern ideology than any other one.
Compared with this, ego Lee Sang intended to form through his autobiographical description is that of anti-hero. More exactly than any other in that times, he was aware of the fact that ego is formed by writing. As is clearly evidenced by the discrimination of 'describing ego' and 'ego described' and the revelation of disguised writing as in Jong Sang Gi(終生記) and Dong Hae(童骸). As for Lee Sang, literature is not to just record reality, but re-interpret and create. The fact that he existed in literature with the name 'Lee Sang' not with his real name 'Kim Hae-Kyoung' tells that ego created by writings is more existential than the real ego.
The ego 'Lee Sang' which Lee Sang created by s works is an modern anti-hero. Lee Kwoang-Soo's ego exists in the meaning net of enlightenment, rationality, continence, hope toward the future, and the likes, While Lee Sang's ego exists in the meaning net of disease, idleness, corruption, sexual indulgence, enervation, cynicism, and fatigue. But the fact that his disguised ego exists as a critic to modern times in philosophy of History, the fact that he recognized the modern principles of the image of falsehood and disguise, and the fact that he indulged himself into ceaseless writing of creation and demolition till the instant of his death, all these facts tell that he more throughly practiced the principle of aesthetic modernity than any other.
If Lee Kwoang-Soo's ego is quite modern by his intention to make modern times the hero, ironically, Lee Sang's ego also is modern' in that he was exactly aware of modern times and formed a typical anti-modern ego as the satire to that. The fact that Lee Kwoang-Soo and Lee Sang completed their literary works in which their stones are the subjects in the process of asking ceaseless questions to themselves and seeking after their ego tells that how earnestly they devoted themselves into aesthetic principle. But Lee Sang pursued artistic goal of 'creation of a new ego' through writing, while Lee Kwoang-Soo positioned the ego formed by writing into the area of 'policy'. This tells that their orientation was modernity and ideology respectively.