Changes in the Recognition of Letters in Korean and Cultural Translations Therein : A Study on Hunminjeongeum (1446) and Revolution of Letters (1947)

이 연구는 역사의 전환기에 ‘글자’의 변화를 시도한 대표적인 두텍스트인 『훈민정음』(1446)과 『글자의 혁명』 (1947)에 주목하고, 이 텍스트에서 보여주는 ‘글자’와 글자에 대한 인식에 대해 살펴보았다. 알려져있다시피, ‘훈민정음’은 창제 당시보다 20C에 들어와서 새롭게 조명받기시작했다. 이 연구에서는 이러한 인식 변화의 바탕에 그 시대의 가치 기준이 작동된다는 것을 전제하고 그것의 구체적인 양상을 고찰하였다. 이를 위해 15세기의 훈민정음에 대한 인식과, 20세기의 훈민정음에 대한 인식을 비교하였다. 그리고 그러한 인식의 변화를 좀더 명시적으로 확인하기 위해, 20세기의 시대 가치를 담고 있는 『글자의 혁명』(1947)에서보여주는 글자에 대한 설명을 살폈다. 이러한 고찰은 고정되어 있는 것으로 인식되어온 ‘글자’의 변화를 확인함으로써 ‘글자’에 반영된 문화 번역의양상을 포착하고자 하는 것이다.

In this paper, the investigation focuses on the two important texts Hunminjeungeum (1446) and Revolution of Letters (1947), the major representative texts that sought to initiate the reform of letters in the Korean language especially in historically transitory periods in the Korean history. By studying various aspects of the given texts, the paper investigates the letters presented in the texts and the recognition of letters underlying the texts. At the first stage, a thorough examination of a wide variety of archival documents published in King Sejong’s times as well as Sejong Shilock confirms that Hunminjeongeum was not properly appreciated as ‘letters’ as such at the time of its invention and, also, that the letters were in effect a product that was devised to meet the criteria that the society of that specific period was demanding. This study, then, looks further into the literature in the twentieth century and uncovers the point that the new illumination given to Hunminjeungeum is actually ascribed to the working of the new value-specific criteria set in/ for the new era. At the following stage, the recognition of language in the modern period is studied: after the specific period from the late nineteenth century through the mid twentieth century, the recognition of language came to be characterized by the double-sidedness in that the salience of a strong attachment to and pride in what is called “Uri Mal/ Geul” (우리 말/글 in Korean, roughly translated to ‘our spoken/written language’) was combined with the idealization of the Western norms of language. Seeing Revolution of Letters (1947) as a good exemplar of that double-sidedness, this account, then, explores the recognition of letters reflected and demonstrated in Revolution of Letters (1947). Consequently, by means of examining the changes in the recognition of letters in the Korean language, this research demonstrates and confirms the presence of time-specific values and/or culture-sensitive relationships in the letters, which were long thought of as “a secondary tool for the sound system”.