〈남홍량전〉에 나타난 사대부의 기계 수용 양상과 의미

초록

Namhongnyang-jeon is a classical Chinese novel written in 1916 by a little-known author named Hyeonpo in the area of present-day Pyeongtaek Station and Hain Station. Namhongnyang-jeon is based on the narrative development of a heroic novel, and a military storyline involving Western machines emerges in the course of overcoming a crisis. The machines in Namhongnyang-jeon are used exclusively by Nam Hong-nyang and Seo Chi-wo, who were born into a lineage associated with the Sadaebu. They operate these machines through an inherent connection to supernatural powers and transmit this ability hereditarily, such that only members of a specific family can use them. This reveals the perception that Western machines, introduced through modernization can be a new means of solving the national crisis, and simultaneously, subordinates their use to Confucian principles, limiting the use of machines to the tools of governance within this lineage. Therefore, while affirming Western machines, Namhongnyang-jeon presents a complex perception that the established authority and vested interests of the Sadaebu class remain valid. This is a method in which the intellectuals of Chinese literature who engaged with the work chose to combine the medieval order and Western machine culture in a distorted way without actively accepting or rejecting the external shock of modernization. Through this distorted combination, Namhongnyang-jeon reveals the postponement of identity and avoidance of reality among classical Chinese literary intellectuals engaged with the work.

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