This thesis reviewed about modernity and post-modernity, which was appeared in modern Japanese poem, centering on poem of Hakushu Kitahara, who is called as ‘people's poet’ one time among modern poets in Japan. Hakushu had affected big impacts in establishment of spoken language free poem in early period of Japanese modern time and had played a pivotal role in almost all phoneme genres of modern time of Japan ranging up to folk song, children's song, popular song including poem and short poem. In particular, his works of popular songs are loved by people until now through education and broadcasting media. He was a poet who was gradually inclined to expression of oriental aestheticism among wide spread of westernization in early time of Japanese modern period by burning his youth. In Korea, with regard to Hakushu, it is being discussed in comparison literature of relationship impacts with Yo-Han Joo or Ji-Yong Chung and is evaluated as a poet who had provided biggest impacts on Korean modern poems. In this thesis, I have tried to analyze modernity Hakushu had depicted and to discuss about possibility of establishment of poetic world of post-moderni쇼 instead of such relationship of impacts.
As the result of analyzing poem collection in early time of Hakushu, it was found out that colonial aspects were included and I have focused on that. In other words, Poetic speakers stood at position looking down ‘primitive people’ from modern position who insisted realization of synchronization with western culture. Modernity to Hakushu was acquisition of glance of embellishment of the end of western century in concurrent time and it includes colonial viewpoint to bind others as ‘primitive people’ within oneself unconsciously. The world found out in such poems, it coincides with the facts that it conceals aspects of absence of others which suppress others and do not regard others as beings with personality while liberating oneself when we regard modernism as strength of self liberation.
After middle time of poems of Hakushu, modern aspects disappeared to the background as he included oriental ideology in his poem and as he started to show obedience to and harmony (Identification) with nature, he began to show traditional original attitude as a Japanese and expression of aestheticism in his words and explanation. Such world of poem is supported by extremely oriental viewpoint about people and nature which is totally opposite to viewpoint of world of the west believing in one GOD. Like this, there was transformation of paradigm from western way off thinking to oriental way of thinking. We may find out possibility of post-moderni쇼 in his middle period of Hakushu or in oriental or buddhist symbolism. The author tried to find out this as an experiment of getting post-modernity by a poet who felt blocking through excessive modernization.
In collection of poems in late part of Hakushu, he symbolized Ainu tribe people, who are indigenous people of Hokkaido, as "primitive" with background of rapid urbanization after a great earthquake of Guangdong. (1923) In this aspect, we can point out the nature of post-modernity which can be ‘relativity of culture.’ However, even in here, speaker of poems did not plunge a scalpel into cancer part that ‘self=modern time of Japan.’ That is, there is no consciousness asking a question, “why Ainu tribe is disappearing?” In addition, glance of discovering one period of oneself (Own race) within others (Other race) is also colonialistic glance. On the other hand, in his poem Hakushu wrote from a viewpoint of the earth seen from the moon, it attracts attention as an element of‘globalism,’which is an index of post-modernity, appears.
It becomes clear that modernity of the west and Japan was established based on colonialistic and sacrifices of others. In other words, modern period was only a liberation of self centered on one's own country and it was reveled that it was a system of ruling and subordination while suppressing others. Through examination of this thesis, it was possible to prove that colonial system, which was not discussed in researches until now, is also inherent inside of poems of Hakushu. In addition, looking from this viewpoint, in studies of Hakushu in Japan, until now, his works in early period were evaluated as the best but it may be possible to suggest an axle of evaluation that group of his works in middle period had the most unique forms rooted in tradition with impacts of oriental traditional ideology which was not evaluated the least.