식민지의 ‘위대한’ 역사와 제국의 위상: 와다 유지(和田雄治)의 조선기상학사 연구 (The ‘Great History’ of the Colony and the Prestige of the Empire: Wada Yuji’s Study on History of Korean Meteorology)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국과학사학회
· 수록지 정보 : 한국과학사학회지 / 32권 / 2호 / 161 ~ 185페이지
· 저자명 : 미야가와 타쿠야

초록

Wada Yuji (1859-1918), the first chief director of the meteorological network in colonial Korea, wrote some books and papers on history of Korean meteorology in 1910s, which were the very first study on history of Korean science. In his writings, he praised the invention of observation system and the long record of rainfall during the Chosŏn dynasty because such a long record could not be found anywhere else in the world. At the same time he represented history of Korean meteorological projects as a part of Japanese history, stating that “our country [Japan] must be proud of them.” Such expression was possible because Wada was influenced by intellectual tendency of the historians of Orient in Meiji Japan, and he believed that he was obligated to represent the great legacy instead of the “uncivilized” Korean people, who he thought were incapable of studying and representing their history by themselves. Also by decontextualizing the meteorological history and data from the historical context of Chosŏn, Wada could describe them as Japanese history of science. As a result, the decontextualized history of Korean meteorology functioned as one noteworthy element of the Japanese empire for cultural opposition to the Western empires.

영어초록

Wada Yuji (1859-1918), the first chief director of the meteorological network in colonial Korea, wrote some books and papers on history of Korean meteorology in 1910s, which were the very first study on history of Korean science. In his writings, he praised the invention of observation system and the long record of rainfall during the Chosŏn dynasty because such a long record could not be found anywhere else in the world. At the same time he represented history of Korean meteorological projects as a part of Japanese history, stating that “our country [Japan] must be proud of them.” Such expression was possible because Wada was influenced by intellectual tendency of the historians of Orient in Meiji Japan, and he believed that he was obligated to represent the great legacy instead of the “uncivilized” Korean people, who he thought were incapable of studying and representing their history by themselves. Also by decontextualizing the meteorological history and data from the historical context of Chosŏn, Wada could describe them as Japanese history of science. As a result, the decontextualized history of Korean meteorology functioned as one noteworthy element of the Japanese empire for cultural opposition to the Western empires.

참고자료

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