매리 루이스 프랫과 접경 혹은 접촉지대 연구 - 비판적 평가와 대안적 전망

Abstract

The present article aims to examine, and provide an alternative vision of, Korean studies on chŏpkyŏng and chŏpch’okchidae. These two are Korean terms that, arguably, correspond to a contact zone that Mary Louise Pratt coined for her inquiries into linguistics, literacy and Euro-imperialism. In this context, this article undertakes five tasks as follows. First, it disambiguates the term ‘contact zone.’ Second, on this basis, it gives a more detailed explication of the theoretical, substantive and methodological features of Pratt’s inquiry into Euro-imperialism. Third, in the light of Pratt’s studies on contact zones and Euro-imperialism, it critically examines Korean studies on contact zones. In so doing, this article illustrates that a large body of the Korean literature is, indeed and albeit to vaying degrees, irrelevant to Pratt’s critique of imperialism and/or even appropriates her concepts in an improper fashion. Fourth, in this respect, it suggests a few alternative research topics, inter alia, with regard to the relatively complex relations of imperialism in East Asia. Finally, it indicates a few (meta-)theoretical issues for conducting a theoretically informed investigation into East Asian and Korean contact zones.