본 논문의 목적은 19세기 미국 낭만주의 역사 서술의 시작을 알렸던 프란시스 파크만(Francis Parkman)의 미국 서부에 대한 인식을 살피는 데 있다. 특히 그가 품고 있었던 서부에 대한 인종주의적인 시선을 확인하는 것이라 할 수 있다. 이러한 비판적인 접근은 지금까지의 파크만에 대한 역사가들의 접근에서 벗어난 것이다. 그에 대한 전통적인 해석에서는 주로 객관적이고 사실적인 서부묘사에서 타의 추종을 불허하는 특출한 그의 능력에 초점을 맞추었다. 그러나 최근 인종적 차원에서 접근하는 소위 신서부사가들은 그에 대한 다양한 해석의 물꼬를 떠주었다. 신서부사가들은 파크만의 인종주의 역사관을 집중 공격하여 그 전통적인 해석의 기틀은 완전히 사라지게 된다. 다른 한편에서 보면, 파크만의 인종주의 역사관은 당 시대의 다른 역사가들의 시각에서도 예외 없이 발견된다고 할 수 있다. 달리 말하면 19세기 말에서 20세기 초까지의 다른 역사가들의 글에도 인디언에 대한 인종주의적인 시각이 농도 짙게 나타났다. 그렇다면 미국인들 내부에 즉 백인이라는 집단의 지도층이 왜 이러한 문명 대 야만이라는 대립 구조의 해석학을 필요로 했는가? 미국의 어떤 특수 사정이 서부를 인종주의적 갈등의 장으로 정의하도록 만들었는지 확인하는 작업이 필요하다고 할 수 있다. 더불어서 미국인들과 당시 미국 역사가들이 설정한 인종에 대한 정의와 경계가 얼마나 작위적이었는지 확인하여 인종 구분의 허구성을 살펴볼 수 있을 것이다.

In America, the west was the land for everlasting advancement and progress of white population in the nineteenth century. And so Indians could not but be dispossessed in the “nobel savage” utopia. On the While, the white said their advancement in this area was “Manifest Destiny” or “White Burden,” which affected on this notorious barbarian savage life and finally transformed into the prime civilization and culture of mankind look like a so-called comtemporary western white civilization. This vision and ideology had been permeated all the parts of the contemporary intellectual circles. Specially well-known historians such people as John Finerty, Thomas W. Higginson, George Bancroft, John Fisk, Theodore Roosevelt, etc. thought that, speak plainly, this barbarian tribes had to be discarded in this area. Francis Parkman was not exception in this approaches. he was a famous historian in the nineteenth century. Some people said his reputation as historian was almost equal to Geroge Bancroft who was called as “the father of American history” In 1847, since his first book had been published in the name of The Oregon Trail. His philosophical and historical vision about the American west never changed. Later, his reputation was more advanced as publishing his representative book, The Confederacy of Pontiac and Indian War. In this thesis, I focused on the Francis Parkman’s Indian and west Images through mainly his history writings and books. The racist or white-oriented historical approaches about him are new vistas. Recently, American revisionist historians target to uncover racist sights of all the American History and finally discover why and how these racist visions were effects all the political, economic and cultural decision-making process.

In America, the west was the land for everlasting advancement and progress of white population in the nineteenth century. And so Indians could not but be dispossessed in the “nobel savage” utopia. On the While, the white said their advancement in this area was “Manifest Destiny” or “White Burden,” which affected on this notorious barbarian savage life and finally transformed into the prime civilization and culture of mankind look like a so-called comtemporary western white civilization. This vision and ideology had been permeated all the parts of the contemporary intellectual circles. Specially well-known historians such people as John Finerty, Thomas W. Higginson, George Bancroft, John Fisk, Theodore Roosevelt, etc. thought that, speak plainly, this barbarian tribes had to be discarded in this area. Francis Parkman was not exception in this approaches. he was a famous historian in the nineteenth century. Some people said his reputation as historian was almost equal to Geroge Bancroft who was called as “the father of American history” In 1847, since his first book had been published in the name of The Oregon Trail. His philosophical and historical vision about the American west never changed. Later, his reputation was more advanced as publishing his representative book, The Confederacy of Pontiac and Indian War. In this thesis, I focused on the Francis Parkman’s Indian and west Images through mainly his history writings and books. The racist or white-oriented historical approaches about him are new vistas. Recently, American revisionist historians target to uncover racist sights of all the American History and finally discover why and how these racist visions were effects all the political, economic and cultural decision-making process.

Barbarian Tribes, Francis Parkman’s The Oregon Trail, The Confederacy of Pontiac and Indian War, American Revisionist Historians, Racist Hypocrisy