The Independence Period in Korea, when the literary society in Busan began to establish itself as an institution, coincided with the time when Yosan Kim Jeong-han delved himself into political thought and practice more deeply than ever in his literary ...
The Independence Period in Korea, when the literary society in Busan began to establish itself as an institution, coincided with the time when Yosan Kim Jeong-han delved himself into political thought and practice more deeply than ever in his literary life. Moreover, he put this period in brackets for himself describing it as a humiliating experience. The purpose of this study is to explore Yosan Kim Jeong-han's participation in social movements, his activities in literary circles and his literary world during the Independence Period in an empirical way. This provided an important stepping stone to getting closer to substance of his literature by supplementing the chronological list of his literary works during the Independence Period.
First, his activities in social movements and literary circles in Busan and Gyeongnam area during this period were the result of his own political ideologies, as opposed to the fact that cultural organizations organized in Seoul used his name in their activities without his consent. Amidst the turbulence of the time, Yosan usually took responsibility for literature in Baedal Educational Foundation, Gyeongnam branch of the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence, Theater Company Huimangjwa under the umbrella of the Gyeongnam Independence Movement Association, and the Gyeongnam People's Committee and he served as the member of the investigation and liaison department of the Anti-Trusteeship Busan Committee, the Chairman of the Busan Council of the Joseon Arts Alliance, the member of the Samnam Literary Society, the Chairman of the Gyeongnam and Busan branch chief of the Joseon Literary Alliance and the Vice Chairman of the Gyeongnamdo Federation of the Federation of Korean Cultural Organization. As an eminent cultural figure in the region, he set up a leftist front culture and actively carried out organizational activities to enlighten the public and to advance the establishment of a democratic provisional government. From the moment that Korea was liberated from the Japanese colonial rule to the resumption and dissolution of the US-USSR Joint Commission, he was both a key member and media publisher of the leftist literary society and art organizations in Busan and Gyeongnam region, staying in the frontline of the cultural movements. With the establishment of a government during which the literary circles were rapidly reorganized toward the right, he was categorized as a reactionary cultural figure due to his activities in these organizations and was forced to stop publishing "Munhwa Geonseol," a medium that he took initiative. As a result, discouraged by the repression on the cultural movements, he joined the Federation of Protecting and Guiding the Public and had to go through the adversity of conversion. This study was able to shed a light on the procedure of his conversion to the ruling ideology and the literary course he had to take as he joined an ideological organization to guarantee his status under the coercive nationalist measure of forcing him to convert.
Second, previous studies on Yosan's literary works during the Independence Period over the years did not present a new perspective as they were confined to "Okjunghoegap" which expresses awe and respect toward an old revolutionary and "Seollal," a story about the popular struggle in October. Due to their heavy dependence on a few well-known resources, they could not provide any comprehensive view encompassing his poems (sijo), novels and essays. During this time, Yosan produced three pieces of stanzaic sijo (12 poems), three free verses and one lyrics. Among these works, he published his free verses of "Yurichang" and "Sa-i-chil-pal, pal, sip-o, sip-i poem" under the pen name of Mokwon and his sijo "Okjungtusa" under the pen name of "Duu" when published in "Inmin Haebangbo." In particular, Yosan wanted to picture the rapidly changing reality of the time and the intellectual's attitude through "Haebanbu", "Ode to the New Year" and "Okjungtusa", which were his stanzaic sijo works of compiling four poems under one title. He attempted to show his literary attitude through these short-breathed poems in the middle of the tumultuous political situation during the Independence Period.
Third, this study discovered and explored his serial short stories "Hochuleui Seollal" published in "Popular Newspaper" and another serial short stories "Seogeopeun Story" published in "Industrial Daily (predecessor of Kukje Daily)," both of which were never handled in previous studies. The title "Hochuleui Seollal" was changed into "Seollal" when it was listed in the 1st issue of "Literature and Criticism" (June 1946). There were no major differences between the works published in the newspaper and the magazine, but it seems that he reorganized some of the chapters. Though it cannot be easily defined only with its first episode, "Seogeopeun Story" is a novel of manners that critically describes the harsh reality of the Independence Period, infested with heinous profiteers. "Haneunim (God)" which was published just before he joined the Federation of Protecting and Guiding the Public, expressed indirectly the responsibilities and roles that an individual should take as a principal agent of social progress by using a character of a pastor's wife who tries to avoid her responsibilities for historic progress. As seen from his poems and novels, Yosan did not avoid his ideologies or practicing them and faced the historic challenge of the time as a Chairman of the Busan Branch of the Joseon Literary Alliance by writing literary works that can keep pace with the rapidly changing literary landscape.
Fourth, I believe that the Independence period when Yosan's political thought, practice and literary creation were all intertwined need to be categorized as a special period in his literary life. Moreover, instead of the previous methods of dividing his literary chronology into three periods, such as 'beginning-stop writing-latter period' or 'former-middle-latter period,' it would be more effective to look at Yosan's literary works in four different periods to better understand the continuity or changes in his literary history. If we include the play "Ingaji (1943.9)" in the general time frame of the new regime period, it is natural to categorize "Geumul (1932.12)" and his debut work "Sahachon (1936.1)" into 'the 1st stage of Yosan's Literature,' which can be considered to be his literary youth period. The Independence period when the potential of political literature was released can be deemed as the '2nd stage.' The 3rd stage is when he did a post-war self-searching by joining the Federation of Protecting and Guiding the Public and being converted, followed by the Korean War period during which he had to join the National Salvation Federation for the guarantee of his status, before the publication of his famous work "Moraetop Story (1966.10)." "Moraetop Story" served as a point of junction because he attached a great importance to this work as his comeback to the literary circles and he made more remarkable accomplishments than ever before. The last '4th stage of Yosan's Literature' includes masterpieces like "Surado (1969.6)" and "Ingandanji (1970.1)" and he actively displayed and deepened his strong drive to practice during the Independence period.