ISSN : 1229-0076
This paper offers an alternative perspective on the well-known “humanism” debates of the mid-1930s by focusing on the early writings of Kim Oseong 金午星 and their changing vision of disciplinary relations. First, I show how the basic content of Kim’s “humanism” (hyumeonijeum)—that is, his vision of both human life and human nature as internally dialectical—emerged in a series of early 1930s articles published in the Cheondogyo New Faction journal, Sin Ingan (New Human). Second, I trace how Kim’s ideas shifted in tandem with broader developments in the New Faction, emphasizing his changing vision of the relationship between philosophy, science, and religion. Third, I demonstrate how Kim pivoted in the year 1936 by “converting” to literature, entering the literary field, dispatching with Cheondogyo terminology, and taking up the term “humanism.” Fourth, using fictional and critical texts by An Hamgwang, Im Hwa, Han Seolya, Yi Giyeong, Song Yeong, and Han Intaek, I suggest that Kim’s relationship to literature should be understood within the context of both contemporary debates about Socialist Realism and the emergence of self-reflexive tropes in novels about novelists written by former members of the Korean Artists Proletarian Federation (KAPF) and their associates.
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