해방기 채만식, 일상의 표층과 친일 반성의 심층 - ｢민족의 죄인｣(1948∼1949) 다시 읽기-

초록

The novel 「Criminal of the Nation」(1948∼1949) is a controversial work related to Chae Man-sik’s pro-Japanese act. We took note of the thoughts Chae Man-sik had at the end of the Pacific War when Japan was nearing defeat. At that time, Chae Man-sik, with a clear self-consciousness, struggled between ‘what should be remembered and what should be erased’. This was revealed as an aspect of memory struggle. Chae Man-sik’s 「Criminal of the Nation」 is a text in which facts were transformed based on his personal memory. Existing studies evaluated the 「Criminal of the Nation」 as a narrative of authentic confession. This study considered a need to re-discuss the existing evaluations through the analysis of the reconstruction, reproducing patterns of memories, and characterization described in the 「Criminal of the Nation」. Chae Man-sik transformed his pro-Japanese behavior through the reconstruction of time in events in the novel event. In the novel, “I”, “Kim”, and “Yoon” appear as important characters. ‘I’ is portrayed as passive and, Kim as a quiet mediator. On the other hand,’Yoon’, an anti-Japanese resistance figure, is portrayed as an aggressive, unfavorable character. Regarding the pro-Japanese purge’, the issue of the liberation period, Chae Man-sik was biased and lost a sense of balance in characterization. It is also worth paying attention to the creation period of the work. It was created in 1946, and the publication of the work was not made until October 1948, after the enactment of the ‘Anti-National Punishment Act’. From this development, it can be inferred that the narrative of 「Criminal of the Nation」 was reconstructed in 1948, when the discussion on ‘anti-national action’ was active. When taking an approach from a viewpoint of people, different judgments can be made about Chae Man-sik’s pro-Japanese behavior. “Criminal of the Nation” is not a text of atonement, but rather a text of a plea for atonement. During the liberation period, people demanded sincere self-reflection from pro-Japanese actors active during the Japanese occupation. Chae Man-sik portrayed through a narrative transformation that pro-Japanese acts were an inevitable choice for everyday people while ‘begging for atonement’ for pro-Japanese acts. Thus, the evaluation of the literary world of Chae Man-sik requires a “conservative record dimension” approach that includes pro-Japanese writing during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea.

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