earticle

영어

Even though certain human activities and products of such activities from any time in history can be labeled as ‘literary’, strictly speaking, ‘literature’(文學) as we know, read, and enjoy today, ‘literature’ in the narrow sense of the word is very much a modern institution. In this essay I have traced the status of ‘literature’ in Chinese language magazines published in mid 19th century. By doing so I was able to catch some evidences that lead to a deeper understanding of the properties of modern Chinese literature. In early missionary publications, in midst of knowledge formation circled around Christian doctrine, geography, astronomy, and natural sciences, relative absence of ‘literature’ is undeniable. Whereas in the case of Yinghuan suoji(《瀛寰瑣記》), and similar magazines published by Shanghai based publisher-entrepreneur Earnest major, and edited by a group of Jiangnan(江南) intellects, pursuit of something ‘literary’ results in relative absence of new knowledge. It can be argued that ‘literature’ that was forming on inevitable basis of age long tradition of classical literature which in most part corresponded with Confucian or Taoist ideals, could not but was in tension with new/modern knowledge that had its source in the modern Western civilization and Christianity. Such status and character of ‘literature’ inherent from it’s birth may have caused it's relatively conservative stance compared to other social and intellectual aspects of modern China, but on the other hand, it may be interpreted as having given modern Chinese literature a strong potential of overcoming or rethinking the ‘Modern’.