Abstract

Using a quantitative study design, this study analyzed articles on ‘Korean history and culture’ in Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo, which were two representative newspapers published by Koreans during the colonial period. The two newspapers showed a general increase in the readership’s interest in ‘Korean history and culture’ in the 1930s and the 1940s compared with the 1920s. The quantitative changes in the number of articles on ‘Korean history and culture’ by year between 1920 and 1940 revealed three relative peaks, with 1931 being the peak year. The first, second, and third peaks occurred in 1926~1927, 1930~1931, and 1934~1935, respectively. The composition of the ‘authors’ who led the production of ‘discourse articles’ related to ‘Korean history and culture’ in both newspapers in the 1920s significantly changed in the 1930s and the 1940s. Findings revealed that considering that the number and proportion of discourse articles in the field of ‘Korean language’ significantly increased from 1930~1940 compared with the 1920s in both the newspapers, linguists, such as Lee Yoon-jae, Hong Ki-moon, Jang Ji-young, and Bang Jong-hyun, were the main catalysts of this change. Furthermore, the appearance of the term ‘persons’ in the discourse articles on ‘Korean history and culture’ in both newspapers indicates that interest in ‘late Joseon’ increased in the 1930s and 1940s compared with the 1920s.