申采浩의 작품들은 近代文學史에서 그 유래를 찾아볼 수 없을 정도로 낯설고 기이한 모습을 하고 있다. 본고에서는 그 작업의 일환으로 申采浩 文學의 存在論的 特性을 고찰해 보는 자리를 마련해 보았다. 支配體制가 강요하는 일정한 政治的 抑壓을 수용해야만 했던 日帝 强占期의 制度圈 文學에 비한다면, 신채호의 문학은 정치적 압력에서 상당히 자유로운 상황의 산물인데, 이것은 신채호 문학의 존재방식을 좌우하는 결정적 변수로 작용한다. 한편, 그는 勝利者가 아닌 失敗者에게 神聖의 아우라를 부여하며, 패배한 자와 억눌린 자들이 패배하고 좌절한 바로 그 순간을 현재적 경험으로 체험케 하고, 그로부터 失敗와 破局의 地點에서 革命的 事件의 到來를 가능케 하는 覺醒과 實踐의 동력을 발굴해내려 하는 것이다. 申采浩의 敍事文學은 韓國 近代文學의 原史라 정의할 수 있을 정도로 다양한 가능성들을 내장하고 있다.

Sin Chae Ho’s works are characterized by strange and peculiar features of which origin cannot be found in modern literary history. However, it is necessary to activate plenty of possibilities within modern literature instead of criticizing it severely with certain criteria after the fact. As part of it, this article aims to consider ontological characteristics of Sin Chae Ho’s literature. Compared with institutional literature under Japanese Occupation when they had to accept some part of the political suppression forced by the ruling system, Sin Chae Ho’s literature is the product of considerably freed situation from political suppression. This acts as a decisive variable that determines the way of his literature’s existence. Looking into his criticism, you will find he established his own view of literature in the position to succeed to the traditional literary view of Muni-jedo(文以載道) progressively. Meanwhile, he constantly talks about the point of collapse and failure of historic reality. In other words, he provides a divine aura to the failure not to the winner and lets them experience the moment when the defeated and the suppressed feel desperate as present experience. From this, he intends to grope for the driving force of awakening and practice which enable the advent of a revolutionary event at the point of failure and collapse. In conclusion, the most important virtue which Sin Chae Ho’s narrative literature has is that it points to another path to modernism where Korean modern literature has never been. Perhaps, his literature contains a variety of possibilities so that we can even define it as the original history of Korean modern literature we have mistakenly neglected.