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초기 도미 이민자의 미국사회 자리잡기와 이중의 정체성-차의석의 이민 자서전을 중심으로-

Authors
장규식
Issue Date
2014
Publisher
한국역사민속학회
Keywords
Diaspora; the Korean communities in the U.S.A.; Dual Identity; Easurk Emsen Charr; Ahn Changho; the Korean National Association; Heungsadan (the Young Korean Academy); Park College; the American Legion; 디아스포라; 재미 한인사회; 이중의 정체성; 차의석; 안창호; 대한인국민회; 흥사단; 파크 칼리지; 미국 재향군인회
Citation
역사민속학, no.46, pp 377 - 417
Pages
41
Journal Title
역사민속학
Number
46
Start Page
377
End Page
417
URI
https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/cau/handle/2019.sw.cau/12984
ISSN
1229-8921
Abstract
본 연구에서는 초기 도미 이민자들이 무슨 이유로 이주를 선택했고, 어떠한 방식으로 현지에 적응하였으며, 어떠한 정체성을 가지고 교민사회ㆍ미국인사회와 관계 맺기를 해 나갔는지를 차의석의 영문 자서전 The Golden Mountain을 길라잡이 삼아 디아스포라의 시각에서 살펴보았다. 먼저 차의석이 평양에서 일찍부터 기독교와 서구문명을 받아들인 초대 교회 교인 집안 출신이었다는 사실에 주목하여, 기독교 문명국인 미국에 대한 동경과 미국에 건너가 동포의 몸과 마음의 병을 치료하는 의료선교사가 되어 돌아오겠다는 포부가 미국행의 동기였음을 밝혔다. 다음으로 도미 이후 차의석의 행적을 ① 현지 적응기(1905-1913), ② 파크 칼리지 시절(1913-1923), ③ 시카고 시절(1924-1931), ④ 샌프란시스코 시절(1931-1939), ⑤ 연방 공무원 시절(1939-1964)로 나누고, 현지 적응과정과 교민사회ㆍ미국인사회와의 관계를 검토하면서 민족 정체성의 변화 양상을 추적하였다. 미군에 입대하여 제1차 세계대전에 참전한 경력을 바탕으로 미국 시민권을 취득하기 전까지 차의석의 정체성은, 미국인사회와 접점을 찾지 못한 채 고립되어버린 한인 디아스포라→정의․인도 등의 보편 가치에 입각해 미국교인들에게 한국의 독립을 호소한 민간 외교사절→대한인국민회와 흥사단의 중견 지도자→2세 교민의 민족 정체성을 강조하면서도, 몸은 미국시민 되기에 매달린 자기분열적 존재 등으로 단계적으로 변화하였다. 시민권 취득 이후 교민사회와 거리를 둔 채 미국 연방 공무원으로 여생을 보낸 차의석은 1961년에 자비로 영문 자서전 The Golden Mountain을 출판하였다. 그리고 그 중에 100부를 자신이 미국인사회에 진입하는데 든든한 후원자가 되어준 미국 재향군인회와 파크 칼리지에 기증하였다. 자서전에서 그는 미국에 대한 지극한 사랑과 미국인으로서의 자부심을 과장되게 표현하였다. 그런데 그같은 언사는 앞서 한국인으로서의 정체성을 거듭 강조한 그의 국문 글들의 내용을 무안하게 만드는 것이었다. 그러한 맥락에서 그의 민족적 자의식이 마지막으로 도달한 종착점은 ‘디아스포라 and/or 미국시민’이라는 이중의 정체성이었다.
This study mainly deals with three questions: why early Korean immigrants determined to migrate to America, how they adapted to the local society and how they redefined their identity when they began to build up a relationship with Korean immigrant society as well as the mainstream American society. These questions are explored from the diaspora perspective through the analysis of The Golden Mountain, Easurk Emsen Charr’s English autobiography. First, this study clarifies the motivation of Easurk Emsen Charr’s immigration to America. His family was a member of the early church in Pyong-yang, and thus he could accept Western civilization and Christianity passionately. With this family background, he affirmed in retrospect that he had a longing for America as the land of Christian civilization, and also had the desire to be a medical missionary in that land, carrying the Bible in one hand and a medicine case in another to provide the medical service to his own people. Secondly, this study analyzes the changing aspects of Charr’s Korean national identity by examining his relationship with Korean immigrant society and the mainstream American society. For this end, I sort out various activities of Easurk Emsen Charr after his arrival in America as follows: ① the period of adjustment(1905~1913), ② the days spent as the Park college student(1913~1923), ③ the period of residing in Chicago(1924~1931), ④ the period of residing in San Francisco(1931~1939), ⑤ the period of his career for the Federal Civil Service(1939~1964). Before Charr was granted an American citizenship for his veteran career in World War I, his identity has changed gradually as follows: at first, he felt himself as an isolated immigrant of diaspora and could not be properly adapted to the mainstream American society(1905~1913); he identified himself as a civil diplomat who asked the American Christians for the support of Korean Independent Movement by appealing to the universal values such as justice and humanitarianism(1913~1923); he professed himself as an ardent leader of Korean immigrant communities by serving as an executive official of the Korean National Association and the Young Korean Academy(1924~1931); he revealed a self-split identity by emphasizing Korean national identity to the second generation Korean immigrants on the one hand, and by sticking to the approval of his American citizenship on the other(1931~1939). After being granted the American citizenship, Charr kept his distance with Korean immigrant communities while spending twenty years in the U.S. civil service. In 1961, Charr published his autobiography, The Golden Mountain, at his own expense. He donated one hundred copies to the American Legion and Park College as an expression of his gratitude for their support of his adaptation to the mainstream American society. In this english autobiography, he exaggerated his love for America and his pride as an American citizen. But this attitude turned out to be contradictory to his previous remarks, because he also expressed his Korean national identity passionately in the essays that he wrote in Korean before he published The Golden Mountain. In this respect, his self-consciousness ended up to a dual identity as ‘Diaspora and/or American citizen’.
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인문대학 (역사학과)
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