Colonial Media Space and the Intelligentsia in Gyeongseong During the Period of 1920s and 1930s - The Case of Choi Seung-ils Life History

Abstract

This study attempts to reconstitute the life history of Choi Seung-il(崔承一, 1901-?), one of the famous Korean literati under colonial Korea. It especially focuses on his media career. As did his many fellows, Choi played an active part in a diversity of media and cultural areas. During the period of 1920s and 1930s, he held various positions (magazine editor, writer, drama director, radio program director, stage manager, etc.) with socialist orientation in Korean cultural scene. He also wrote several modernologist essays on the media culture in Gyeongseong. However, he became a pro-Japanese film producer in the late 1930s, and produced Volunteer, a militarist propaganda movie. We assume that Chois media career and writings reveal, beyond his personal idiosyncrasy, the specific relationship between colonial media space and the intelligentsia. In this context, we try to clarify this relationship, conceptualizing media space as an important structural opportunity space and phenomenological space of experience for the colonial intelligentsia. Chois life history clearly shows how the colonial intelligentsia continued to reconstruct the media space by his thoughts and activities.