Recognition and Narrative Aspects of the History of Korean Classic Literature from Two Korean Literature History Works Written in China

중국 한국문학사 2종의 한국고전문학사 인식과 서술 양상: 남북한문학사와 자국문학사의 수용과 변용을 중심으로

  • Received : 2017.08.10
  • Accepted : 2017.09.01
  • Published : 2017.09.30

Abstract

This study focuses on two specific history of Korean literature in Chinese: the outline of The History of Joseon Literature (2010) by Li Yan and The History of Joseon Literature (1988, 2008) by Wei Xu-sheng; it was conducted to compare narrative viewpoints to the history of South and North Korean literature and therefore identify distinguishable characteristics. As a result, the following was concluded. First, The History of Korean Literature by Cho Dong-il and The History of Korean Literature in North Korea (15 volumes) include thorough discussions on division of historical eras, concept of genres as well as individual literary works and applied such discussions on writing literary history. However, Wei Xu-sheng and Li Yan's The History of Korean Literature did not illuminate theoretical discussion of South and North Korea. Li Yan's outline of The History of Joseon Literature was published in 2010 and the first edition of Wei Xu-sheng's The History of Joseon Literature was published in 1986 and later was published as revised editions in 2000 and 2008. Regarding published dates, it is a matter of course to reference Cho Dong-il's The History of Korean Literature, published in the 1980s, or The History of Korean Literature in North Korea (15 volumes), published in the 1990s; nevertheless, neither Wei Xu-sheng nor Li Yan used those texts in their works. Their works were heavily influenced by the narrative tradition of the history of national literature and therefore, entailed unsophisticated discussion on the division of historical eras or the concept of genres. Second, those two texts also emphasized external factors such as politics, society, economy and culture and explicitly mention these factors in historical overview of each chapter. Such an approach is commonly used in narratives of literary history under socialist regimes, including The History of Korean Literature in North Korea (15 volumes). Accordingly, evaluations based on 'political standards' - stress of people, nationality, practicality and so forth - in main texts are particularly accentuated, akin to narratives of literary history under socialist regimes. Finally, since those two Korean literature history works are written by Chinese scholars, they focus on correlation between Chinese literature history and Korean literature history. However, several genre-related terminologies such as Xiaopin (a kind of essay), Yuefu (a kind of popular song/poem), Yuyan (fable), Shuochang (telling of popular stories with the interspersal songs), Shizhuan (biography or/and memoirs in history) were adopted directly from Chinese literature. In analyzing Korean literature using terminologies introduced from Chinese literature, differences between original and alternative definitions were not examined in detail. While some terminologies and concepts were adopted directly without further consideration as to state of the two nations, it is also interesting to note that dichotomy, mainly used in Korean literature history, was used to discuss the genre of Cheonki (romance tale), relevant to Suyichon and Keumosinhua, rather than follow traditions of Chinese literature history.

이 논문은 중국에서 중국어로 집필된 한국문학사 가운데 조선족 학자인 이암(李岩)(외)의 "조선문학통사"(2010)와 한족 학자인 위욱승(韋旭昇)의 "조선문학사"(1988, 2008)의 서술시각을 남북한문학사와 비교하여 그 특징을 밝히고자 하였다. 주요 검토 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 조동일의 "한국문학통사"와 북한 15권본에서는 시대구분 방식, 장르의 개념, 개별 작품에 대해 논의를 세밀하게 전개하면서 이를 문학사 서술에서 적극 활용한 바 있다. 그러나 위욱승(韋旭昇)과 이암(李岩)의 한국문학사에서는 남북한의 이러한 이론적 논의 과정에 거의 주목하지 않았다. 이암(李岩)의 "조선문학통사"는 2010년에 출간되었고, 위욱승(韋旭昇)의 "조선문학사"는 1986년 초판을, 2000년과 2008년에 개정판을 출간했다. 두 문학사의 출간 시점으로 보면, 한국쪽에서 이루어진 여러 논의들을 참조하는 것이 당연한 일일 터인데 그렇지 못하다. 자국문학사의 서술 전통에 더 많은 영향을 받았기 때문이라 생각된다. 둘째, 두 텍스트는 정치 사회 경제 문화 등 문학 외부적 요인을 중시하며 각 시대마다 '개술'에서 이를 따로 언급하고 있고, 본문에서도 인민성 현실성 민족성 등 '정치 표준'에 의거한 평가가 중시된다. 이는 사회주의 체제에서의 문학사 서술에서 자주 쓰이는 방식이며, 북한 15권본도 비슷한 형식을 보인다. 셋째, 두 문학사는 중국학자가 쓴 한국문학사이기 때문에 중국문학과 한국문학의 연관성에 주목하는 부분이 많다. 하지만 소품(小品) 낙부(樂府) 우언(寓言) 설창(說唱) 사전(史傳) 등 장르 용어는 중국문학 용어를 많이 활용하였다. 그러나 중국에서 사용되는 이러한 장르 용어로 한국문학을 설명할 때, 본래의 의미와 변화된 의미 사이의 차이를 세밀하게 검토하지 않은 경우가 많았다. 향후 작업에서 반드시 고려되어야 할 점이라 생각한다.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

Supported by : 한국연구재단