염상섭과 4·19혁명

초록

Yeom Sang-seop contributed significantly to the development of Korea's recent-modern literature. He was born in 1897. During the Japanese colonial rule of Korea, he was a representative Korean literary man, and during Korea's liberation period, he was a journalist serving as the chief editor of the Kyunghyang Shinmun. During the Korean War, he served as a Troop Information and Education Officer at Navy Headquarters, and in the 1950s, he was the president of Seorabeol Art College. During the April 19 revolution in 1960, he was a long-life member of the National Academy of Arts, and a representative senior literary man of Korea's literary circles. This study sought to examine how Yeom Sang-seop, in his advanced age, responded to the April 19 Revolution in 1960 to identify the social perception of Yeom Sang-seop's literature. Also, it sought to verify that, by examining the relationship between Yeom Sang-seop and April 19 Revolution, the revolution proved legitimate through the ties between generations. On May 8, 1959, Yeom Sang-seop, together with 33 literary men, declared a statement, strongly demanding that the government withdraw its cancellation of the publication of the Kyunghyang Shinmun Newspaper. He ran a long column in the Dong-A Ilbo on the first page on May 9, 1959, under the title of "Is the public opinion united?" At that time, Yeom Sang-seop strongly defended the freedom of speech as the foundation of democracy, and sharply criticized the Liberal Party. When cultural artists were forcefully used to help the election of Syngman Rhee and Lee Ki-poong as president and vice president, Yeom Sang-seop's literary activities were profoundly meaningful. As a senior literary man, he showed a distinctive critical attitude toward the government exercising political power improperly. Yeom Sang-seop's criticism of the Liberal Party government and his anger over the corrupt election carried bigger weight in his writings published during the April 19. He ran The Way to the Big Road in The Dong-A Ilbo on April 25, 1960. On May 3, 1960, after the April 19 Revolution, he ran "Students Did Great Thing; the Great Feat of April 19 Revolution" in The Chosun Ilbo. In these two articles, Yeom Sang-seop distinctively supported the April 19 Revolution, and proposed solutions to the pending issues as a senior literary man. His remarks of supporting the students' action are meaningful in terms of the ties between the old and new generations during the revolutionary and reformative period. He affirmatively saw the ordeal of Korean society as the creation of democatic foundation, advocated the construction of a democratic nation, and offered bitter yet useful advice to the young generation. Yeom Sang-seop advocated the passion for forming a nation and the creation of a democratic foundation. This is part of Yeom Sang-seop's realism. In light of his writings published in newspapers, the April 19 Revolution was made successful because young students sacrificed themselves, which obliged adults to do something in return, and because a wide range of sympathy and consensus was formed across generations including the elderly generation.

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