교육계 여성들의 ‘일제 협력’에 대한 기억과 망각

Memory and Oblivion of Korean Women in Educational Society in ‘Collaboration with Japanese Empire’

This article aims to analyse how colonial collaborations of Korean women in educational institutions during Late-Japanese- Imperialism period have memorized and discoursed since the Korean liberation from Japan. Kim Hwal-Lan, Lee Sook-Jong, and Song Geum-Sun, who devoted their lives to movement for the improvement of women’s right and education during 1920-30 and became the leaders of women’s society, are the subject of competitive discussion for historical evaluation of ‘exposed pro-Japanese activities.’ From 1950 to 1980 when their autobiographies, memoirs, and critical biographies were published, the memories of their collaboration in war are either deleted from the official records, or recorded as they had collaborated by Japanese coercion against their will. In those records, the Late-Japanese-Imperialism era are recorded as the period of suffering ‘for saving the school’, and a collaboration that was coerced, but by creating a discourse that they had eventually ‘saved the school’, shameful collaboration had converted into noble sacrifice. Through this, women of educational society became the ‘pioneer for the nation and women’. However, as critical studies were conducted on ‘pro-Japanese’ along with democratization of Korean society after 1987, their ‘eager’ collaboration activities were revealed, and such ‘anti-nationalistic’ activities and opportunism were criticized. After mid -1990’s, the radical criticism on national historiography were presented, and as new possibility of feminist history away from limitations of nationalism were searched, female educational personnel including Kim Hwal-Lan were more vividly portrayed as the pioneers in female education. Criticisms on ‘anti-nationalistic’ intellectual person, and praises as ‘pioneers’ in modern female education produced social discussion based on opposite composition of ‘nation versus women’. which was also compared to even political problems. However, such criticisms and praises ignored or separated problems of collaboration, resulting in abandoning of deep reflection and consideration for why they had no other choice but to collaborate. Recently, studies have been conducted to discover internal logic and context behind their collaboration activities away from the divided boundaries of ‘nation versus women’. This is a very positive effort in respect that it is an effort to confront the history and past beyond ‘liquidation of the past’. Considering the problems of female collaboration during the Late-japanese-Imperialism era will be an opportunity to observe problems of dilemma between colonial women and imperialism, feminism and nationalism, women and war, and it should be considered as a stepping stone towards opening lip a better future of possibilities.