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영어

A role as a governmental representative that is the most significant feature of Korean-war novels was played under writers’ clear awareness of the purpose for propaganda and conveyance of an ideology. Authors took part in battles during the wartime, risking their own lives, and they passionately wrote their works against the situation and age. Therefore, the novels of Korean-war are ‘keys’ which can look into the age and have the worth as an ‘barometer’ which can shorten the distance between war and literature. Therefore, aspects of the role as a governmental representative are classified into three types in this study such as ‘war novels’, ‘propaganda novels’ promoting the system and encouraging men to join the army, and ‘solidarity novels’ enforcing military-civilian relationship. In the process, I dealt with the subject ‘anti-Communism’ appearing monotonously and the role of ‘propaganda’ in the novels. In addition to, I found out hidden principles such as women’s issues related to indifference and inhumanity veiled with the shade of propaganda and agitation as well as a problem of humanity overlooked despite emphasis on patriotism, fraternity, and comradeship. We have had no full opportunity to look at the literary significance of the Korean-war novels due to the lack of humanism and their instrumentalization, along with the criticism that they are just ‘records of experiences’ instead of ‘giving any shape of experience’. However, it will be meaningful that we arrange and study the novels as a subject occupying one position in our history of Korean literature.