『조선일보』의 「문예란」은 1921년 7월 4일부터 같은 해 8월 27일까지 『조선일보』1면에 개설되었다. 이 글의 목적은 『조선일보』 「문예란」에 실린 작품들을 발굴, 소개하고, 그 위상을 구명하는 것이다. 「문예란」이 개설되었던 때는 『조선일보』가 23회에 이르는 발매반포금지와 2차례의 정간을 겪고 점차 운영에서 정상을 찾아가던 즈음이었다. 「문예란」은 총 38회 개설되었는데, 시가 21편, 평론이 3편, 기행문이 1편, 수필이 1편 등 모두 26편의 작품이 실렸다. 「문예란」에 글을 수록한 작가는 변영로, 남궁벽, 김억, 박종화, 오상순, 오천석, 김찬영, 현진건 등이다. 변영로는 「문예란」에서 가장 활발한 작품 활동을 했으며 필자들의 교류에서도 중심에 있었다. 그는 진리가 확정된 세계에서 벗어나 불확실성에 투신하는 자세를 새롭게 창출될 문학의 핵심이라고 주장했다. 이 글은 남궁벽이 스스로 ``∼다``체로 번역해 발표한 「별의압흠」, 「말」 등을 소개하는 것을 통해 정본 확정의 문제를 제기했다. 또 작가의 과작을 고려할 때 새롭게 발굴, 소개하는 남궁벽의 시 5편이 지니는 무게 역시 가볍지 않다. 박종화의 시 가운데 「廢園에누어셔」는 「黑房秘曲」에 실린 시와 달리 3장으로 되어 있다. 특히 3장이 당시 박종화의 지우였던 정백, 홍사용 등의 갈등과 관련되어 주목을 필요로 한다. 이 글에서 소개하는 오상순의 두 시 역시 처음 발굴, 소개하는 시들이다. 이들은 어린 시절의 상상력이 깃든 언어를 가장 본질적인 것으로 파악하는 당시 오상순의 문학관을 드러내고 있다. 「문예란」의 필자들은 이미 문단의 승인을 받은 존재들이었다는 점에서 작품들 역시 문학청년 시기의 습작이나 투고작과는 다르다. 또 「문예란」의 필자는 각각의 동인지에 얽매이지 않는 문인들의 네트워크와 문학 활동을 파악할 수 있는 대상이기도 하다. 「문예란」이 지닌 가장 두드러진 의미는 『조선일보』를 비롯해 『동아일보』 『매일일보』 등 당시 신문 미디어에 같은 성격의 지면이 존재하지 않았다는 점에 있다.
Literary section in Chosun Ilbo was first open on July 4, 1921 and lasted until on August 27 in the same year. The section was reported on the first page of Chosun Ilbo. The purpose of this article was to discover and introduce the pieces of literary work reported in Chosun Ilbo, and to bring light on the status of its literary section. The time when literary section was established was the moment Chosun Ilbo was returning to normal condition of running business after having twenty three times of prohibition of release and two times of suspension. The number of reported literary section was thirty eight, which included twenty one pieces of poem, three pieces of critique, one piece of travel essay, and one piece of essay. Thus, the total number of reported literary work was twenty six. Writers who participated in the section were as followed : Young-Roh Byun, Byuk Namgung, Uk Kim, Jong-Hwa Park, Sang-Soon Oh, Chun-Seok Oh, Chan-Young Kim and Jin-Gun Hyun. Among them, Young-Roh Byun was the most active writer in the literary section and was in the center of mutual exchange of opinion among the writers. He sought the core of literature in the attitude that was devoted to the uncertainty, which was off the world of concrete truth. This article supposed a question on determination of the formal copies by discovering and introducing the Byul-eui-ap-hem(별의압흠), and Mal(말) which were reported by Byuk. He translated these pieces for himself using style of writing, "∼ da". Moreover, as Namgung was not a prolific writer, the importance of five pieces of poem by Byuk Namgung should not be overlooked. Park`s poem, Lying in the closed garden(廢 園에누어셔), consisted of three chapters compared to that of his, which were issued in Secret songs in a black room(黑房秘曲). Especially, the third chapter of it was related to conflict among his companions, Baek Jung and Sah-Yong Hong. Therefore, it needs to be focused on that chapter. Two pieces of poem by Sang-Soon Oh were introduced for the first time. These represented Oh`s literary view at the moment, which the writer understood the language with childhood imagination as the most essential one. Writers of the literary section had already been approve by the literary circle. For this reason, the pieces reported in the literary section had a different character from their studies or submission before starting their literature career. In addition, the writers were the subject of the network and career activities among the writers who were not bound by literary coterie magazines. The most significant meaning of literary section was that the section with the same character did not exist in Dong-A Ilbo, Maeil Shinbo, or Chosun Ilbo itself. To prove this point, relation between news media and literature in early 1920s was discussed.