Writing the real: Marxism, modernity, and literature in colonial Korea, 1920--1941

By analyzing the works of four writers---Yoˇm Sangsoˇp, Yi Kiyoˇng, Kang Kyoˇngae, and Kim Namch'oˇn---this dissertation traces the historical and ideological development of realist literature in Korea between 1920 and 1941. Long celebrated as national literature ( minjok munhak), realist literature has exerted a powerful influence over contemporary Korean culture. My study offers a novel interpretation of this body of literature, and in so doing it takes a fresh perspective on its still surviving heritage.; In past interpretations, critics have highlighted the nationalist significance of colonial realism. They have been countered, in recent postcolonial scholarship, with the observation that the realists were clearly influenced by the hegemonic cultural discourses of Imperial Japan. Through in-depth readings of major works in the realist canon, I argue that neither of these interpretations is fully satisfactory in accounting for the historical complexitities of realist literature.; I read Korean realism, rather, as a literature primarily inspired by Marxism. Following the 1917 Russian revolution, many Korean intellectuals adopted a historical materialist outlook on colonial reality. They applied this outlook to produce penetrating critiques of some of the most influential ideologies of their time. Their writings varied greatly in their themes and styles---from Yi's reportage of agriarian communities, to Kang's melodramatic novels of lower-class women, and to Kim's portrayals of alienated activists. Yet these writings also reveal deep similarities. In drawing attention to the economic basis of inequality in the colony, I suggest, the realist writers systematically exposed the material reality behind phenomena that had hitherto been understood either culturally or psychologically.; No attempt is made here to discredit any alternative readings of colonial realism. Instead, this study intends to rescue the Marxist paradigm as a viable interpretive paradigm. In spite of its notoriety as a dogmatic and schematic doctrine, in the Korean case Marxism proved to be a remarkably fertile source of inspiration for many colonial writers.