1910年代朝鮮のセブランス病院における出産・育児に関する医療宣教活動 : 「伝道婦人」の存在に着目して

抄録

This paper examines the medical mission activities of Severance Hospital in 1910s Korea, with particular attention to the roles of "Bible Women." This analysis reveals the way new knowledge regarding childbirth and childcare was disseminated. Previous research focuses on public health services for mothers and children carried out by mission hospitals since the 1920s. The public health services were important in the process of propagating the concept of "scientific" childbirth and childcare, which considered quantitative markers in children's health, such as height, weight, and mental development. This paper analyzes the activities of the mission in the 1910s to show how it became the basis for expansion of medical mission efforts in the following decade. The Severance Hospital was the only mission hospital that had a research department and has led the way in medical activities since its foundation in 1904 Seoul to the present. What should not be overlooked when evaluating the Severance Hospital's activities was the existence of Korean women who worked as "Bible Women." Instead of male doctors, who could not approach Korean women, and a scarcity of female nurses, Bible Women passed on their new knowledge to Korean women. By focusing on the Bible Women who bridged the gap between Westerners and Korean women, I discuss the acceptance of and fixation on new knowledge regarding childbirth and childcare. This paper first analyzes reports of the Korea Medical Missionary Association and "The Korea Mission Field" as historical documents. When the medical system of the Government-General was being revamped in the mid-1910s, social services were established. The Bible Women were a necessary component in the promotion of social services. Second, this paper analyzes the health awareness activities by Bible Women. From the description of their home visits, Korean people's attitudes and feelings toward children are apparent. Bible Women helped Korean women realize the value of hospitals and afforded them an opportunity to obtain new knowledge. However, they sometimes separated children from their families and had to confront other Korean women who resisted breaking from tradition. Third, an analysis of "Korean Child Mortality," a report on the investigation and research on infant mortality, reveals the cultural differences between Western doctors who headed health research and investigations, and Bible Women who interviewed Korean women, as well as errors and vagueness that arose due to differing opinions regarding investigation efforts, and the modification of data on Korean childcare in order to promote a western style childcare. In the late 1920s, health awareness activists took advantage of the results of the investigation to advocate the expansion of social services. Health awareness activities were connected with the investigation and research, so as to better promote social services. Bible Women occasionally confronted, differed in opinion, and compromised with Western male doctors and female nurses as well as Korean women. Bible Women served important functions in health awareness activities and in health investigation and research. Due to the activities of the Bible Women in the 1910s, the foundations of expansive social services in the 1920s were established.