The Meaning Embedded in the Illustrations of A Day in the Life of Novelist Gu-bo - The Literary Relationship Between Mr. Gu-bo and Mr. Yi Sang

The illustrations that Yi Sang drew for Park Taewon's novel A Day in the Life of Novelist Gu-bo (JoseonJoongangIlbo(朝鮮中央日報), 1934.8.1-9.19) depict not only the urban landscape of Gyeongseong (京城) within which Gu-bo wanders throughout his day, but also a map of the artistic friendship shared between these two artists during the colonial period. From the title of his illustrations for A Day in the Life of Novelist Gu-bo, Yi Sang reveals that the novel embodies the contradictions Gu-bo faces in his life. The pen diligently moves across the manuscript paper, caught between his mother's desires and his own as a novelist, and exposes the fundamental contradictions of Gu-bo's existence. Gu-bo, endlessly pursuing happiness yet blind to the happiness before his eyes, is an ordinary portrayal of the inevitable contradictions of a human being who exists in the present while being tethered to memories. Moving around the page, between lines, and in the novel's margins, Yi Sang interjects his friendship with Gu-bo, enriching its meaning. This unique illustrative practice, rarely found in the history of serialized newspaper novels in modern Korea, was a product of the intimate communication between the novelist Gu-bo and the illustrator Yi Sang, based on their close relationship.