『님의 침묵』 정본 간행의 필요와 방향 - 출간 의미와 판본⋅표기 문제를 중심으로 -

초록

The purpose of this study is to reexamine the aesthetic significance of the publication of The Silence of Nim in relation to the unique characteristics of Korean poetry in the 1920s, and to clarify the theoretical justification and direction for publishing an authoritative edition by identifying the forms of poetic distortion inherent in issues of edition and orthography. Published in 1926, The Silence of Nim is a monumental collection of poetry that explores the individual’s inner identity through the Korean language and the form of prose poetry amidst the realities of colonial rule. It overcame the limitations of contemporary Enlightenment literature and presented a new aesthetic paradigm for modern Korean free verse. However, the hundreds of editions currently in circulation have been arbitrarily edited without rigorous verification of the original text, severely distorting the multilayered symbolism and unique poetic rhythm that Han Yong-un sought to create. Accordingly, this paper compares and analyzes major editionsincluding the 1926 first edition by Hoedong Seogwan, the Hanseong Tosobo edition, the Jinmyeong Munhwasa edition, the Singu Munhwasa edition, and the Taehaksa edition-to identify six types of errors evident in Korean orthography, style, spacing, punctuation, vocabulary, and poetic form. In particular, this paper critically discusses, from the perspective of “the materiality of the text,” the damage to “visual poetics” caused by arbitrarily correcting intentional punctuation restraint-thereby closing off the openness of thought-and the phenomenon of destroying poetic rhythm through arbitrary line breaks dictated by page layout. Based on this, the paper asserts that the publication of an authoritative edition of The Silence of Nim is a critical task that goes beyond mere bibliographical correction of typographical errors to restore the theoretical foundation of Manhae’s poetics to its original form, and proposes specific publication criteria and practical directions for this endeavor.

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