The Era of the Novel, 31 Years On －Facing the 100th Question — Data-Driven Reading of The Journal of Korean Fiction Research (Vol. 1–99)
(소설의 시대 31년, 그 백 번째 물음 －데이터로 읽는 『현대소설연구』 1~99호)

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Abstract

This study analyzes all 1,487 articles published in The Journal of Korean Fiction Research over the thirty-one years since its inauguration in 1994 (Vols. 1–99). Drawing on systematically collected and refined data from article titles, subtitles, and bibliographic references, the study employs digital humanities methodologies to examine both the macro- and micro-level configurations of knowledge that the journal has constructed, as well as the historical transformations of its research landscape. The dataset was built by integrating bibliographic and reference information from 1994 to 2025 through KCI and manual input, and by standardizing cited authors’ names using the National Library of Korea’s Linked Open Data (LOD). Using Python-based text mining, noun-frequency analysis, TF–IDF, and time-series citation analysis of translated and original monographs, this study identifies clear shifts in the journal’s research orientations. In the 1990s, the journal concentrated on establishing foundational concepts for modern Korean literary history. In the 2000s, theoretical vocabularies such as ‘Modernity’, ‘Women’ and ‘Space’ became prominent, signaling an expansion of theoretical engagement. Since the 2010s, keywords including ‘Women’, ‘Subjectivity’, ‘Liberation’, ‘War’ and ‘Desire’ have emerged as central concerns, marking a distinct transformation in the critical landscape. In the 2020s, intensified gender-focused scholarship has been accompanied by new forms of sensorial, generational, and global awareness, indicating a paradigmatic shift within the field. An analysis of authors appearing in article titles further reveals how the journal has reconfigured literary history around different writers at different moments. While colonial-period writers such as Lee Taejun, Hwang Sunwon, and Chae Mansik dominated early research, studies on contemporary women writers—including Park Wanseo—expanded significantly in the 2010s. Finally, the citation analysis of translated and original theoretical works demonstrates how research in modern Korean fiction has interacted with external intellectual frameworks. Whereas narratological and literary-theoretical figures (Bakhtin, Genette, Kermode, Chatman) were most frequently cited in the 1990s and 2000s, the 2000s also saw a marked rise in psychoanalytic theory and spatial studies (Freud, Yi-Fu Tuan, Edward Relph). In the 2020s, Judith Butler, Simone de Beauvoir, and other feminist theorists became highly cited, reflecting a broader epistemic realignment within the scholarly field.

초록

이 글은 『현대소설연구』 창간(1994) 이후 2025년 현재까지 31년간(1‚99호) 발 표된 총 1,487편의 논문을 대상으로, 제목과 부제, 참고문헌 정보를 종합적으로 수 집·정제하여 디지털 인문학적 방법론으로 분석하였다. 이 글은 수집한 데이터를 바 탕으로 『현대소설연구』가 구축해 온 지식 구조와 그 변동 양상을 거시적·미시적으 로 조망하고자 한다. Python 기반의 텍스트 마이닝, 명사 빈도 분석, TF‚IDF, 시계열 기반 참고문헌 (번역서·원서) 계량 분석의 방법론을 동원하였으며, 이를 위해 1994‚2025년 간 논 문 서지정보 및 참고문헌 데이터를 KCI 활용 및 휴먼 라벨링으로 통합 구축하였고, 국가서지 LOD를 활용하여 참고문헌 저자명을 전거화하였다. 논문 제목과 키워드 분석에서 『현대소설연구』는 시기별로 뚜렷한 문제의식의 변화를 보여준다. 1990년대에는 문학사적 기초 개념을 정립하는 데 주력했으며, 2000년대에는 ‘근대성·여성·공간’ 등의 이론 어휘가 두드러지며 연구의 이론적 확 장이 본격화되었다. 2010년대 이후에는 ‘여성·주체·해방·전쟁·욕망’ 등이 중심적 화 두로 부상하여 지형의 전환을 보여준다. 2020년대 이후에는 젠더 연구의 심화와 더불어 새로운 감각적·세대적 세계 인식이 두드러져, 기존 연구 경향과의 변별적 패러다임 전환을 시사한다. 한편 제목에 출현한 작가 분석을 통해 『현대소설연구』가 특정 시기에 어떤 작가를 중심축으로 문학사를 재구성해 왔는지 확인하였다.