20세기 전반 한국 사상계의 궤적과 민족주의 담론

초록

This essay deals with the various features of the early 20th century Korean thought particularly examining how Korean nationalism interacted with the Western modern thoughts. It was not until the middle of 1900s that the Korean used the term “nationalism." At that time Korean intellectuals recognized the establishment of nationalism to be a key factor for the restoration of national sovereignty against Japanese aggression. They took up social Darwinism to be “Muhyong Jagang (spiritual power-cultivation)," and regarded it as the base of “Yuhyong Jangang (concrete power-cultivation)" that means to enhance the national prosperity and defense. They also advocated to establish the New Religion (“Jong'gyo Ipguk"), considering it an indispensible base for national unity and prosperity. The incipient Korean nationalism based on the logic of “Muhyong Jagang" and “Jong'gyo Ipguk" became jeopardized by Japanese Annexation of Korea. As a reaction to this, the nationalist intellectuals in 1910s, who pursued republicanism, came to perceive newly the fall of the Great Korean Empire as a threshold toward the Republic of Korea. They tried also to overcome social Darwinism since it took granted for the right of the strong to rule over the weak. These efforts were done within three directions such as the emphasis of national characteristics, socialism, and humanitarianism; among these, humanitarianism became a theoretical foundation for the nationwide March 1st Independence Movement. As a result, Korean nationalism was eventually given a form on the basis of republicanism and humanitarianism as such. Korean nationalism under the Japanese colonialism was equipped with its theoretical alliances from the Western modern thoughts: liberalism, conservatism, ethical statism, and socialism. Korean nationalism was shaped by these influences while each intellectual group was adopting respectively the ideologies if it had an affinity. First, liberalism was imported to Korea coupled with Anglo- American Christian Protestantism. Its mainstream was a newly emerging middle class in the northwest of Korea, where Ahn Chang-ho's nationalism can be an example of the conjunction between liberalism and nationalism. Second, Korean conservatism was shaped as a consequence of the cohesion between the modernization course by the Yangban landlords and English gentlemanly capitalism. The Dong-A Daily News group led by Kim Seong-su was a case in this respect, where nationalism was united with a sort of Edmund Burke's conservatism. Third, sharing the ideas of the organic theory of the nation and the state, the Daejong Gyo line's worship of national characteristics, and Hegel's theory of ethical state, the Korean statism was conjoined together with ethnic nationalism. Ahn Jae-hong and Choe Hyon-bae remained to be the most typical examples in this regard. Fourth, those who deemed national liberation as a requisite for class liberation while conjoining socialism and nationalism, were found in the first generation of Korean socialist; Yoh Woon-hyong and Bae Seong-ryong, who led Choseon Jung'ang Daily News group, were the case. The salient feature of Korean nationalism after the Korean Liberation was shown in the moderates who aimed for building a unified independent nation-state through the right-left coalition. The middle-of-the-road intellectuals mapped out a unified government based on parliamentary democracy and economic equality. However, its ideological ground was diverged into liberalism, statism, and social democracy: New Liberalism by Oh Gi-young, New Nationalism by Ahn Jae-hong, and New Democracy by Bae Seong-ryong. Such the middle-of-the-road nationalism, which was succeeded later in resistant nationalism of civic-level backing up national democratic movement, has been sustained in the movements for democracy and national unification of Korea. Although there has been a de-nationalism discourse, Korean nationalism has lasted up to the present context, in which the Korean still faces the tasks of modernization such as the national unification aside from the globalization. All the points we have discussed with regard to Korean nationalism, especially examining its shift from ethnic nationalism to civil nationalism, remain to be a part of the ongoing objectification of its characteristics.

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