1930년대 신계몽주의자의 “五四” 기억 (May 4 Memories of New Enlightenmentalists in the 1930s)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국외국어대학교(글로벌캠퍼스) 역사문화연구소
· 수록지 정보 : 역사문화연구 / 37호 / 207 ~ 240페이지
· 저자명 : 김승욱

초록

이 논문은 근대 이래 중국 지식인사회를 규정해온 환경조건이라고 할 수 있는 “구망의 위기”가 “오사” 기억을 구성하는 데 어떤 영향을 끼쳤는가에 관해, 1930녀대 신계몽운동을 중심으로 검토해본 것이다. 신계몽운동은 1936년 9월부터 1937년 말까지 1년 남짓한 기간 동안 북경, 상해 등지의 좌파 지식인들을 중심으로 전개되었던 문화운동이다. 이 운동은 그 참여 지식인의 폭이나 기간 또한 계몽운동으로의 내용 면에서 오사신문화운동의 그것에 미치지 못했다. 특히 구망을 위한 사상적 동원구조 하에서 개별성보다 집체성이 우선시되면서, 계몽이 구망에 종속된 것은 이 운동의 분명한 한계였다. 그렇지만 이를 통한 구망과 계몽의 연결은 중국 지식인사회의 요구에 부응하고 있었으며, 이는 중국 지식인사회의 ‘유전자’로서 자리잡게 했던 측면이 있었다. 오늘날 중국사회가 진정한 계몽을 성취하기 위해서는 이러한 구망의 위기의식과의 연결성을 떨쳐내는 것이 필요하다고 판단되며, 이와 관련해서 앞으로 “오사” 기억이 어떻게 활용될 것인지 관심을 갖게 한다.

영어초록

This paper reviewed how the salvation crisis, the defining circumstance of the Chinese elite since the modern China, affected the constitution of the memories of the May Fourth, in particular in reference to the New Enlightenment Movement in the 1930s. The Movement was a cultural movement that spanned September 1936 through the end of 1937, spreading among left-wing intellectuals in Beiping(Beijing) and Shanghai. At that time China was in danger of being conquered by the Japanese imperialists and needed salvation from despair by invoking the legacy of the May Fourth spirits.
The New Enlightenment Movement culminated an effort to bring to bear the experiences and insights from a cultural movement, but not comparable to the May Fourth Movement in size and length, it was incomplete in content and inconsistent in form. Its main limitation was that it was more in line with the requirements of nationalist mobilization by putting more emphasis to collective ideological participation rather than individual enlightened rationality.
However, it is seen that the then rallying cries appealed to and had considerable impact on the Chinese public in urgent need of national salvation. Li Shenzhi, a pro-democracy scholar who was then in his youth, reflected on the movement, "it spread extensively soon with the myriad intellectuals gravitating to the new wave." Also, "the History of Modern Chinese Enlightenment Movement" published by He Ganzhi in Shanghai in December 1937 was so popular that the third edition was reprinted only three months after the first one. Like this, there was evidence of the strong appeal made by the movement's agenda, which appeared to signify a loose but important connection between the cause of salvation and the cause of enlightenment.
This is also reminiscent of the enlightenment movement revived during the 1980s. As is well known, the voices for enlightenment from the intellectual and thought leaders since the reform opening of China have echoed with the feelings of the salvation crisis. The feelings of crisis of being deleted from the list of countries on the globe, which were reflected in the famous TV drama "River Elegy" was a good example. Such calls for cultural changes sparked by crises from the outside have been typical responses among Chinese intellectuals during modern Chinese history, which is thought to be more like a genetic legacy inherited. However, for China to promote societal enlightenment in its true sense, it seems desirable to throw away the obsession with salvation and patriotic nationalism, among others. In this context, it is quite interesting that how to leverage the historic memories of May 4 for the future.
It is also intriguing that different attitudes of participants between the political section and cultural section were observed in the New Enlightenment Movement, that is, bold and decisive actions were called for in the political section, while attitudes towards the old traditions were demanded with more prudence. This more open position to the traditional culture is distinguished from the radical inclination shown in the May 4 cultural movement. This has a strong parallel with the different lines of behaviors that today's China has taken in political and cultural settings, so to speak, a possibility of a simultaneous presence of political radicalism and cultural conservatism. This can be construed as another legacy from the New Enlightenment Movement, which still tended to advocate the old culture.

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