The Society Page of Newspaper of the colonized Korea, its politics of sentiment and modulation of social facts

식민지 신문 '사회면'의 감정정치 -사회적 사실들의 정치적 서사화

This study inquires how human interest news on society section of newspapers had been modulated as multi-layered political narratives that would consistently have Koreans consider, realize and question on colonial situation as well as ethnic identity. Under totalitarian censorship of the colonial government, newspapers could not publish reports on political issues and current affairs, so society page of human interest such as crime, accident, conflict, disaster, and many kinds of sufferings of peoples to death would take great public attention and consequently be considered as a substitute of political section. Society page had enjoyed its influence on formation of public opinion of the colonized ethnic society and had maintained cultural-nationalist position ever since the founding of newspaper in mother-tongue in 1920. In colonial context, there is nothing non-political to the lives of the colonized, social facts would be necessary and happen to be modulated into a narrative that could trigger nationalist sentiment. For this end, news reporting of society section usually concentrated on aspects of 'Les Mis${\acute{e}}$rqbles', dramatic quality, and psychological factors in detail. Narrative style of news reporting got used to modulate factual informations with a proper taste of exaggeration, emotional expression, and commercial touch of exciting words. Even in a case of death by drug abuse, news was written to indicate what made him/her drive to miserable death on street, that is, what is de facto reason of all of social problems like as migration, hunger, leaving home, crime, suicide, violence, gambling, love affairs to death, adultery, and even opium habit. Those social problems and personal sufferings appeared up on newspaper 3rd page at daily base. Readers could acknowledge and identify what the real matter that should be resolved and then blame colonialism, capitalism, and militarism for those social problems. Journalists put values on inciting the colonized to realize the national and ethnic situation and feel sympathy for their people tied up by a common destiny. In this terms, news on society section of newspaper under Colonial Occupation were encoded as narratives of politically layered text and then decoded as intriguing sentiments against colonial dominance. I argue that society page of newspaper of colonial period engaged in a sort of cultural politics of sentiment and emotion which is a private area outside of imperial sight.

이 연구는 1920~1930년대 식민지 시기 신문의 사회면-사회적 보도가 정치적으로 부호화되고 해독되는 양식화의 메커니즘을 분석하고 있다. 민족국가와 정치부재, 그리고 주밀한 검열체제 하에서 신문은 비정치적 장르를 정치화하는 담론전략을 시도하며 사회면은 이 식민지적 맥락 안에서 정치적 언설로 구성되고 해독되었다. 이를 규명하기 위해 첫째 민간지의 사회면의 위상 및 편집방향, 둘째 사회면의 사회적 사실을 생산하기 위한 취재, 조직, 기자, 기사작법, 셋째 사회면을 둘러싼 신문과 기자의 부호화 전략 및 이에 공조하는 독자의 해독 규약을 분석했다. 사회면 또는 사회적 사실의 정치적 양식화는 객관적 사실보다 이면의 심리적 사실을 중시하고, 식민지 현실의 부정적 현상(現狀)에 주목하면서 운명공동체로서 민족적 비참을 형상화하며 뉴스를 극적 구조의 감정적 현실 서사(實事敍辭)로 구성하였다. 사회면은 민족공동체적 감각을 공유하고 유지하는 데 의미를 부여하며 이를 위해 민족적 감정을 동요하는 취재보도와 기사의 양식화를 이룬 것이다. 식민지에서는 모든 사회적 사실들이 정치적 문제로 환원된다는 점을 전제하면 사회면에 배치되는 사회적 사실들에 정치적 함의를 덧씌우기 위한 식민지 지식인/기자들의 전략과 전술, 의도는 식민지 저널리즘의 한 특수한 양상을 드러낸다.