트랜스내셔널 동아시아의 근대적 변용

Abstract

In this article, I trace the modern transformation of East Asia which operated across three dimensions, namely, human migration, the trade of goods, and the communication of concepts.While growing into an empire, Japan tried to deal with its population-food problem by importing food from overseas and exporting its industrial goods. This resulted in the implementation of the ‘rice-cotton exchange system’ in colonial Joseon. Japan thus tried to solve its food shortage by trading transnational goods across regions while alleviating its population overload through colony acquisition or mass deportation of its national members. This shows that the trade of goods and the migration of people were intricately linked.The concept of ‘Orient(東洋)’ within East Asia was being circulated and communicated in connection with the concept of nation or nationalism. This indicates that the concept of ‘Orient’ was not unrelated with the migration of people or the trade of goods. As the discourse of Asian solidarity(亞細亞連帶論) or Orient discourse on the level of civilization(文明論的 東洋論) emerged throughout East Asia, the ‘Orient discourse’ would have contributed to promoting migration and exchange. On the other hand, when the exclusive aspects of Orient discourse was on the rise, the role of the ‘Orient discourse’ would inevitably have been a negative one.