북한문학의 미적 보편성과 정치적 특수성 - 비체제적 양식과 민중적 해석을 중심으로 -

초록

This paper aims to compare literary universality and North Korea's political specificity in South Korea's research on North Korea' literature. To date, North Korean literature has been handled as exceptional-style literature or deficient literature. This is South Korean researchers' viewpoint based on imagining South Korean literature as a universal form. By relativizing South Korean literature researchers' viewpoint, North Korean literature can be approached as a universal specific form. To examine North Korean literature research in the universal-special relationship, associated thinking was used. It is believed that, when examining the universality of North Korea's literature as a language-based art, literature's embedded truth can be analyzed. In actuality, South Korean literature and North Korean literature has a lot in common. First, they are based on the same national language, their early-modern literature has the same origin, and prior to the division of Korea, they shared the common history of literature. After the division of Korea, however, South Korean literature and North Korean literature have not exchanged with each other but have developed in their own way, thereby deepening literary division. This paper proposes the following approaches to North Korean literature: 1) instead of assuming the same identity, respecting mutual difference, 2) strengthening the field sense through the understanding of the contemporary literature of North Korea, 3) approaching North Korean literature from people's point of view, and 4) relativizing South Korean literature through North Korean literature. I will call it is “Methodology of non-regime style Populism”. Towards that end, attention is drawn to North Korea's literary criticism circles, and three North Korean writers, worth assessing even from the viewpoint of South Korean literature researchers, were selected. They include Kim Hye-in, Kim Cheol-sun an Seo Cheong-song. Through these three contemporary North Korean novelists' novels, North Korean literature's universality and specificity were discussed. Kim Hye-in's Gabo (Family Treasure) and Aijeok Moksori (Childlike Voice) well depict generational conflicts and North Korean society's ethics. Through Kim Hye-in's works, North Korea's important pending issue was found to be the confrontation between private and public interests. This point can be derived from the universality attribute of literature that deals with the inner secret world. Kim Cheol-sun's Inyeon (Connection) and Kkoteun yeolmaereul namginda (Flowers leave fruits behind) are love epic poems. Love is a universal theme of literature, and it is a meaningful theme in that the society discloses the formation of relationships that it embodies. Kim Cheol-sun continues to depict the agonies of love in society with overwhelmingly political dominance. Emerging recently as a highlighted writer in North Korean literature is Seo Cheong-song. Through his works, Yeongwonhal naui sueop (Everlasting My Class), and Mujigae (Rainbow), he expresses his interest in figures who are not mobilized for regime propaganda. Depiction of grassroots' lifestyles is intended to criticize bureaucratism, which is highlighted. North Korean literature seems to maintain political superiority, and yet creates cracks in political superiority by literature's attribute of exploring the inner world. Reading the hidden messages of North Korean literature reveals that it continues to challenge the literary style being customized. North Korean literature uses freedom allowed within the limitation of regime, and yet makes ceaseless efforts to expand the literary imagination horizon from the viewpoint of populace's common sensibility. In this sense, the non-regime style and populace's looks depicted in North Korean literature prove the universality of literary creativity. Thus, the more detailed approach to the specificity in the universality of North Korean literature is left as a research task for South Korean literary researchers.

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