현순은 일본에서 유학을 한 지식인으로, 이민을 주선하는 동서개발회사에 통역가로서 취직을 하였다. 그리고 1903년 이민자의 인솔ㆍ관리ㆍ통역의 임무를 지니고 하와이로 떠났으며, 약 4년이 지난 1907년에 귀국하였다. 그 이후 그는 하와이에서의 체험과 지식을 바탕으로 1909년 1월 20일에 하와이 견문록 『포와유람기』를 출간하였다.
『포와유람기』는 국한문 혼용의 약 58쪽 분량으로, 총 4장으로 구성되었다. 제1장 총론은 이민의 효시, 한인의 생활환경 등 하와이에서의 생활을 담았고, 제2장 지리는 하와이의 인문지리와 자연지리를 포괄적으로 그리고 있다. 제3장 역사는 하와이의 발견에서부터 미국과의 합병까지의 사건을 기술하였으며 마지막 제4장 경지는 제당회사와 농업에 관련된 것이다현순은 하와이에서 얻은 지식과 체험을 다양한 서술 방식으로 나타내었다. 우선, 하와이에 대한 정보를 객관적으로 서술하여 독자가 새로운 지식을 얻을 수 있도록 도왔다. 그리고 작자는 이민자들을 위해 다양한 활동을 하였는데, 이를 객관적으로 기술한 반면에 자신의 업무에 대한 성취감은 주관적으로 드러내었다. 마지막으로 작자는 하와이의 이국적인 풍경과 발전된 문물을 접하고, 그에 따른 감정을 그대로 표출하였다. 그렇지만 단순한 감탄에서 그치는 것이 아니라 발전 원인과 과정을 파악하며 지식인으로서의 자세를 취하고 있다.
이와 같은 『포와유람기』는 역사적 가치뿐만 아니라 문학적 가치를 지니고 있다. 동양에 집중된 해외 기행문학의 폭을 넓혔다는 것 자체만으로도 의의가 있겠다. 또한 하와이 이민 과정을 살펴볼 수 있다는 점에서도 중요하다. 하와이 이민의 공식적인 문건 외의 사항을 살펴볼 수 있는 사적인 자료라 할 수 있다. 끝으로 작자는 대상에 따른 다양한 서술 태도를 취하고 있다. 장과 절로 세분화된 백과사전식 구조 속에 다양한 내용을 담으면서 그에 적합한 서술 방식을 취하였다는 점이 특기할 만하다.
The purpose of this study As an employee of East Asia Development Company, a company that recruited immigrants, Sun Hyeon went to Hawaii with the duty of guiding around 60 Koreans in February 1903, and came back to Korea in 1907. In 1909, after two years of undergoing various experience in Hawaii, he wrote and published Powayuramgi, which was written in combination of both Korean and Chinese letters. Powayuramgi exhibits an encyclopedia-type description structure formed of a total of four chapters and 36 verses.
Chapter 1, which shows the introduction, describes the general matters on Hawaii. This chapter describes living in Hawaii, including the itinerary until arriving at Hawaii after leaving Korea, the landscape of Hawaii, beginning of immigration, daily life, recruitment, and newspapers and magazines of Hawaii. Chapter 2 in on geography, and is composed of 20 verses, occupies the largest portion of approximately 27 pages. Chapter 3 is on history, describing incidents such as the discovery of Hawaii by a British captain named James Cook, unification and ruling by King Kamehameha, and annexation by the United States. Chapter 4 is on landscape, which introduces the cultivation method of sugar cane and coffee, the main agricultural products in Hawaii, and the lifestyles of workers.
Sun Hyeon provides various information on Hawaii in Powayuramgi. He describes the natural geography and human geography of Hawaii, and also the various cities. He also mentions the history of Hawaii. Accordingly, the situation in Hawaii can be understood through Powayuramgi and readers may gain new knowledge. The author excludes subjective perspective on such information, but rather describes the information in an objective manner through specific figures and statistical data. Such description method prevents doubts on the information on Hawaii while, procuring objectiveness and increasing its value.
Sun Hyeon not only made efforts to gathering various information during his stay in Hawaii, but also reported in detail the settlement process and lifestyles of immigrants. He describes the specific role of immigrant leaders, including himself, and how they helped immigrants to settle. However, while the author objectively describes his own whereabouts and progress during the process, his description style exhibits a feel of pride and satisfaction in judging difficult situations and results of behaviors. Thus, in such descriptions, the author exhibits objectiveness in describing whereabouts while exhibits a subjective perspective in making judgments.
Because Sun Hyeon already had experience in studying abroad in Japan, he had prior experience of encountering developed civilization, however, it was the first time for him to encounter other western advanced businesses and unusual cultures in Hawaii. In doing so, he expresses his feelings intact and exhibits an admiring attitude. However, he not only exhibits yearning for new matters, but also analyzes the developed civilization.
Powayuramgi is has both literary and historical value. First, it has value based on the fact that it is a record on the western world. Records by those who visited the western world due to national duties or by those who left the country due to personal reasons have the value of scarcity. Next, the fact that Powayuramgi deals with the immigration history in Hawaii is remarkable. Powayuramgi not only shows the early immigration stage to the settlement process in detail, but also realistically and minutely deals with the lifestyles, difficulties living in a foreign nation, and the overcoming process of such difficulties. Lastly, Powayuramgi embodies various description aspects, broadening the breadth of monotonous travel literature. The author objectively introduces information on Hawaii and makes both objective and subjective reports on immigration matters. In addition, the author takes a subjective admiring attitude on the civilization aspect.
