제국의 노스텔지아와 식민지의 여수(旅愁): Pépé le Moko(1937), <望鄕>(1939)과 「여수」(1939)를 중심으로 = Two Kinds of Nostalgia Between the Empires and the Colonies: Comparing Pépé le Moko, Nostalgia, and “Yeo Su”

Abstract

Lee Hyo Seok wrote “Yeo Su” (여수) as the novelization of Julien Duvivier’s film, Pepe le Moko , which is translated into Nostalgia (망향) under the Japanese Empire. For the most part, Korea under Japanese rule accepted Western literature and movies through Japan. Therefore, Western cultural products that arrived in colonial Chosun are a reflection of the two kinds of empires. The main character of Pepe le Moko , Pepe, is captivated by Gaby. Here, Gaby represents the modern city Paris, and this is the reason Pepe became disillusioned with Casbah, which gave him shelter. That means he suffers from nostalgia for a modern nation (or city), and Japan replaces Pepe’s nostalgia with homesickness. It’s only possible to empathize with a modern nation. Because modernity is not completed in the colonial Chosun, however, modernity occasionally is understood as a consequence of the colonization. In this context, the study focuses on the mutual negotiation of literature and film on the path of cultural acceptance in the colonial era of Chosun. In contrast to the pursuit of Eurocentric identity revealed in the film, Lee strove to create characters who were excluded from the severe competition among empires. As a result, the narrator of “Yeo Su” identifies himself as a traveler because he projects himself onto stateless people. As well, the nostalgia of the empires is switched to traveller’s melancholy.