Colonial Duality of Gyeongseong Cherry Blossom Viewing in Japanese Colonial Era: Focusing on the Novel Planted a flower tree but

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to look at the background of the introduction of cherry blossoms in Japanese colonial era and the purpose of the introduction of the Japanese Government-General of Korea from the perspective of colonial use to facilitate rule over Koreans. Through the analysis of primary historical sources such as the newspaper feed of the time and Lee Taejoon's novel, Planted A Flower Tree But, we first looked at how Japanese colonial era cherry blossoms were introduced and why they were introduced, and secondly, we looked at the representation of cherry trees in Lee Taejoon's novel. As a result of the study, cherry blossoms were introduced in Joseon in 1907 and spread through the process of acceptance and resistance. The colonial duality of cherry blossoms can be considered through the relationship between Japanese and wealthy Koreans who embraced cherry blossom viewing and the poor in Gyeongseong, which had no choice but to be alienated from such cherry blossom viewing in the novel.