‘조선학의 장’과 식민지 고등교육

초록

Joseon studies during the colonial period can placed within the tradition of national learning (國學). As such it is not possible to understand the full extent of Joseon studies through the narrow lens of the ‘Chosunhak Movement’. This article analyses the development process of Joseon studies using the concepts of academic fields and sub academic fields, emphasizing Joseon studies’ relationship with higher education was emphasized. In the 1920s, through the declaration of Joseon Studies by Choi Nam-sun, the horizon of Joseon Studies gradually emerged in Korean society. However, during the 1920s, only minor and experimental research in the sub-field of linguistics and ‘invention’ (that is engineering) was led by Koreans in Joseon studies. Instead, Keijo Imperial University, which opened in 1926, laid the foundation for full-fledged Joseon studies. Japanese researchers who took office at universities, Korean graduates who had studied abroad, and from 1929, Korean graduates of Keijo Imperial University, came together at the same time to become the main agents of the Joseon studies boom. The formation of Cheonggu Academic Society (靑丘學會) in 1930, signaled the full-fledged launch of Joseon studies. The first comprehensive academic society on Joseon studies centered on Japanese researchers appeared. Based on the academic discipline institutionalized at Keijo University, the Cheonggu Academic Society produced expertise in Joseon studies in earnest. As a result, from 1930, the sub-academic field of Joseon studies have been established in humanities such as language and literature, philosophy, folklore studies, and economics, as well as scientific and technological disciplines such as medicine, ‘invention’, and natural science. The academic field of Joseon Studies thus came to be in full bloom in the early 1930s. Based on the establishment of these sub-field, the Jindan Academic Society (震檀學會), a comprehensive society for Joseon studies centered on Koreans, was born in 1934. Paradoxically, the Jindan Academic Society put forward ‘scientific Joseon research’ as a slogan, and it was able to be launched as a sub-field alliance in humanities of Joseon studies. The reason why the nationalist right-wing group started the Joseon Studies Movement with Silhak (實學) as a symbol of Joseon Studies was this sense of crisis over scientific Joseon research.

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