인물사적 관점에서 바라본 재일 역사학자 강재언 －그 행적과 가치관, 역할을 중심으로－

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss social roles of Kang, Jae Eon, a first generation of Zainichi historian, by reviewing his life. This thesis reviews the variety of his roles: left-wing activist, advocator of new identities for Zainichi Koreans and historian of Korean history. Rothental’s research method of the reconstruction of life story is intended to be introduced in this thesis, however, merely doing so is not enough since Kang has already passed away. Therefore, remarks in his writings are also scrutinized. After settling in Japan, Kang, Jae Eon had become an activist of left-wing movement over doing academic research on Marxism. However, he felt disillusionment on Chongryong, the pro-North organization, because it inclined to enforce worship on Kim, Il Sung. Kang decided not to belong to it anymore as other Zainichi intellectuals did. Since then, Kang’s activities were implemented not in Chongryong community but Japanese society. During this period, Kang met Shiba, Ryotaro, one of the most renowned Japanese novelist. They stimulated each other in respective writing activities. Higashi-Osaka, next to Osaka city became the place of communication. Kang became one of the first Zainichi intellectuals visiting South Korea. At that time, Kang’s visit to South Korea became a target of criticism among Zainichi community, not only Chongryong but also his colleagues, such as Kim, Seokbeom, because its prevailed perspectives on South Korea was the origin of divisionism of Korean peninsula. As a historian, Kang severely criticized extreme Neo-Confucianists because they devoted to political controversy for 300 years. He considered them as the culprit of the collapse of Choseon Dynasty. Among various historical interpretation by Kang, this thesis particularly refers to his criticism against Sarim faction. According to Kang, the faction’s intolerance on the other factions never contribute to strengthen the dynasty’s competitiveness with its neighboring nations. The Zainichi historian is regarded as one of the earliest critics of so-called Zainichi-ron. He asserted that the younger generations should not stick to belong to one of the divided nations in Korean peninsula. Indeed, criticism by Chongryong community was extremely severe, however, such an argument certainly gave positive impact on the rest of Zainichi Koreans suffering from identity crisis. In addition, Kang played a role of educator, leading many of his student to be academic professionals.