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This essay aims to examine modern characteristics of main characters with an experience of studying abroad in two novels Euphyeoljo and I Found a Pearl which were serially published in The Donga Ilbo in the 1920s.
First of all, the main characters of the two novels were students studying abroad who were supposed to be the new modern agents, but they displayed a tendency to entirely rely on others because of their vulnerable financial condition. The parasitism served as an obstacle not only to serious self-reflection but also to the situation of Joseon under the Japanese colonial rule at the time. Moreover, the experience of studying abroad was diverted to indulging themselves in culture and arts of modern Japan, so it was almost impossible to deal with their dependence even after they came back to Joseon. Their parasite-like life was followed by self-deception and contradiction after their arrivals in Joseon and they were exposed to the risk of giving themselves up to the depraved lives.
Second, both of the two novels put love at the center of modern experiences. The love can be characterized by a delicate combination of expectations for the sanctity of love and men's violence around the 1920s. The sanctity of love pursued the harmony of body and soul, while it also showed some forms and ideologies of romantic love which were in conformity to the sublime. Combined with traditional values, it served as a tool to intensify and internalize women's chastity. Even women revealed their tendency to admire love itself or to completely rely on "physical love." At the same time, men's violence remained as in the traditional society.
Lastly, the two serial novels published in the newspaper depicted conspicuous consumption in a modern city. The modern city around the 1920s represented by Gyeongseong was described as a decadent and pleasure-seeking consumption city. Students who studied abroad as well as young people from the affluent families as main consumers in the novels were obsessed with conspicuous consumption. The youth from the wealthy class tried to win more reputation through consumption, while the students spent the money they gained in a fraudulent way in maintaining their reputation and leading dissipated a life.
These modern characteristics shown in the two novels were intertwined with overall structure of the Korean society around the 1920s. This can be interpreted as general characteristics of a popular novel or retrospect of the modern industrial society. Yet, it cannot be seen as modern characteristics, in that the intelligent youth as modern agents in modern city of Gyeongseong in the 1920s were leading a life not that different from other people's. Therefore, the modern Joseon under the colonial rule should be characterized mainly by such characteristics as parasitism, violence and consumption.

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