이 논문은 이례적인 활황을 맞았던 1930년대 서울의 백화점과 소비문화 현상을 ‘제국의 스펙터클 효과’라는 관점에서 분석하였다. 1920년대 문화정치와 함께 식민지 조선의 치안이 확보되고 경성의 식민지수도화가 어느 정도 완성되면서 경성에 백화점, 영화관, 카페 등으로 대표되는 상업적 소비문화시설들이 본격적으로 들어서기 시작했다. 이는 이전 시기까지의 경성의 도시공간 재편을 주도해온 정치·군사적 노선이 경제·문화적 노선으로 전환하는 것으로 해석된다. 이러한 공간적 변화는 한편으로는 도시공간의 근대적 균질화를 촉진하면서, 다른 한편으로는 남촌과 북촌, 본정과 종로의 식민지적 차등화를 심화시켰다. 특히 백화점은 이중화된 식민지 도시공간의 경계를 넘어 북촌의 조선인들을 남촌으로 유인하는 강력한 소비자본주의적 장치로서 작동하였다. 백화점의 소비자본주의적 전시 기술을 통해 제국은 식민지사회에 한층 매혹적인 자기표상을 생산하였고, 피식민 대중은 이를 구경하는 군중이 되어 도시성과 근대성을 경험하였다. 소비대자본에 의해 연출된 제국 스펙터클은 민족적·공간적 경계를 약화시킴과 동시에 피식민 대중 내부에 빈부와 취향에 따른 새로운 경계를 만들어냈다. 결국 식민지도시 경성의 백화점과 소비문화는 공간의 분할선을 상대화시킴과 동시에 집합적 정체성의 균열선을 중층화시켰다.

The Spectacle Effects of the Empire and the Urban Experiences of the Colonized: the Department Store and the Consumption Culture in the 1930s Seoul Kim, Baek Yung (Seoul National University) This paper analysed the phenomena of the department store and the consumption culture in terms of the spectacle effects of the empire, which were unprecedently vitalized in the 1930s in Seoul. With the internal pacification of colonial Korea and the completion of the colonial capitalization of Seoul(Keijo) in the mid 1920s, the major commercial facilities like department store, movie theater, cafe etc. came to be introduced to Seoul. This can be interpreted as the transformation of the Japanese Empire's restructuring strategies of the urban space of Seoul from the politico-military initiative to the economic-cultural initiative. On the one hand, the spatial change intensified the colonial differentiation of the dual city that was segregated into the Southern Village for Japanese and the Northern Village for Koreans. On the other, it enhanced the modern homogenization of the urban space. Especially department stores were activated as a powerful apparatus for consumer capitalism, inviting Koreans to Japanese street, transcending the spatial border of the colonial segregation. Through the technique of exhibition of the department store, Japanese Empire produced visually attractive self-representation, making the colonized to experience the fascination of modern/urban culture as crowds or spectators in the street. The spectacle of the Empire weakened the spatio-national lines of demarcation and, at the same time, created new lines of cultural distinction based on the differentiation of the class or social strata inside the colonized community.

The Spectacle Effects of the Empire and the Urban Experiences of the Colonized: the Department Store and the Consumption Culture in the 1930s Seoul Kim, Baek Yung (Seoul National University) This paper analysed the phenomena of the department store and the consumption culture in terms of the spectacle effects of the empire, which were unprecedently vitalized in the 1930s in Seoul. With the internal pacification of colonial Korea and the completion of the colonial capitalization of Seoul(Keijo) in the mid 1920s, the major commercial facilities like department store, movie theater, cafe etc. came to be introduced to Seoul. This can be interpreted as the transformation of the Japanese Empire's restructuring strategies of the urban space of Seoul from the politico-military initiative to the economic-cultural initiative. On the one hand, the spatial change intensified the colonial differentiation of the dual city that was segregated into the Southern Village for Japanese and the Northern Village for Koreans. On the other, it enhanced the modern homogenization of the urban space. Especially department stores were activated as a powerful apparatus for consumer capitalism, inviting Koreans to Japanese street, transcending the spatial border of the colonial segregation. Through the technique of exhibition of the department store, Japanese Empire produced visually attractive self-representation, making the colonized to experience the fascination of modern/urban culture as crowds or spectators in the street. The spectacle of the Empire weakened the spatio-national lines of demarcation and, at the same time, created new lines of cultural distinction based on the differentiation of the class or social strata inside the colonized community.

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Seoul, Department Store, Colonial City, Spectacle Effect, Urban Experience, Consumption Culture, Crowd