1920-1930년대 정사(情死)담론에서 드러나는 낭만적 사랑의 형상과 실체 -정사 담론에서 배제된 여성들의 목소리- = The Production of Romantic Love Revealed in Josean’s ‘Jeong-sa’(情死) Discourse.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this article is to see what made us perceive ‘romantic love’ as ‘natural thing’. People have been believed that love is noble and gorgeous. But the love between men and women has been created historically and culturally. The way people perceive ‘love’ has been already reflected a view of ‘Power’. It was created in complex relationships such as men-women, western-oriental and invaders-invaded countries. Therefore we should pay attention to Joseon which had been under Japanese colonial era. If we understand how ‘romantic love’ was produced in Joseon, we can see the violence of invisible ‘Power’.
‘Jeong-sa’(情死) which means ‘to choose death to achieve love’ came to Joseon from Japan during the colonial period. From the perspective of Joseon, this culture was very strange and weird phenomenon. In 1920s – 1930s period, the number of cases of two people committing suicide surged in Joseon. These were different from the Japanese culture of ‘Jeong-sa’(情死). People in Joseon chose to die due to extreme economic difficulties, hunger, and social problems which were from Japanese occupation. But they were introduced and interpreted as ‘Jeong-sa’(情死) through media controlled by Japanese rule.
As a result, ‘Jeong-sa’(情死) discourse in Joseon didn’t have a specific and empirical meaning. Instead, it served to reveal various modern discourses introduced through Japan. It functioned as a cultural field where various modern discourses such as romantic love, homosexuality and new women called ‘Sin-Yeoseong’. All of them were concentrated through the gaze of the power-subject.
In this process, ‘romantic love’ stood out. As the Jeong-sa(情死) discourse had been produced, the love had been took a shape. This creation of love reinforced gender norms and worked toward women. In this period the articles about ‘Jeong-sa’(情死) were written in a romantic or hateful way, according to the social status and gender norms of the dead. The love revealed in this discourse had a clear direction as the subject and object of romantic love based on the gender ideology.
However, in 1931, Hong Ok-im and Kim Yong-joo’s ‘Jeong-sa’(情死) occurred. Their relationship between Hong Ok-im and Kim Yong-joo who were intellectual women in Joseon could not be captured in the perspective of that ‘Power’. The media tried to see their death from the discourse of homosexuality, denunciation of women. But their death indicated the voices of women who were always excluded from the subject of power.
The violence of modernity that women in Joseon had been suffered was evident in the form of the love revealed in the Jeong-sa(情死). In the romantic and ideal form of love, women had been otherized. But the deaths of Hong Ok-im and Kim Yong-joo made it possible for now-here to see the violence of that times. Women in Josean had to endure the double oppression of ‘Power’ came from Japan-Joseon relationship and male-female hierarchy.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

본 글은 1920년-1930년대 정사(情死) 담론을 통해 드러나는 낭만적 사랑의 형상과 실체를 파악하고자 한다. 본래 정사(情死)는 일본의 문화로 ‘사랑을 이루기 위해 죽음을 선택한다’는 뜻을 갖고 있다. 일본을 통해 식민지 조선에 새롭게 등장한 정사는 실질적이고 정확한 의미를 가지지 못하고 문화적인 기호로 소비･유통된다. 그와 동시에 일본의 문화를 단순히 모방하고 재현하는 것이 아닌, 독자적인 맥락 속에서 분열적인 모습을 보이게 된다. 이 과정에서 다양한 근대적 담론들이 충돌한다.
근대적 발명품이라고 할 수 있는 낭만적 사랑은 식민지 조선에서 1920-1930년대의 정사 담론을 통해 모양새를 드러낸다. 사랑은 국가적･남성적 권력 주체들에 의해 여성들을 억압하고 조종한다. 언론은 정사를 행한 이들의 사회적 신분과 젠더적 규범에 따라 기사문을 다르게 작성한다. 정사를 행한 이들의 관계를 낭만적인 사랑의 모습으로 바라보기도 하고 여성 혐오적인 시선으로 바라보기도 한다. 정사 담론으로 획일화된 다양한 이들의 죽음은 젠더 이분법을 기반으로 사랑의 주체와 대상이라는 일방적인 방향성을 갖는다. 정사 담론은 낭만적 사랑이라는 이름으로 조선인 여성들에게 식민제국-식민지, 남성-여성이라는 이중 억압을 교묘하게 내재화시킨다.
하지만 홍옥임과 김용주의 정사는 권력 주체의 시선으로는 해석될 수 없는 사건이었다. 언론은 이들의 정사를 신여성 혐오･동성애 혐오의 관점으로 봉합하려고 하였다. 그러나 두 여성은 죽음을 통해 사회적 규범에 저항하고자 하였던 본인들의 목소리를 세상에 알렸다. 두 사람의 목소리는 지금-여기로 하여금 당시 여성들에게 가해졌던 시대의 폭력을 수면 위로 끌어올릴 수 있게 만든다. 이로써 당시에 배제되었던 여성들의 목소리들이 지금- 여기에 와닿을 수 있게 된다.