역사적 기억을 둘러싼 인정투쟁: 5･18의 헌법 전문 수록은 어떤 의미를 가지는가

More than 30 years have passed since the 1987 Constitution, and discussions on constitutional amendments have been ongoing. The Moon Jae-in government’s attempt to amend the constitution in 2018 failed, but discussions on constitutional amendments according to the demands of the times will continue to arise. Among the various discussions, this article focuses on the preamble of the Constitution. The preamble of the Constitution does not describe specific rights and prohibitions, but it contains the historical background and the ideology pursued by the society. The preamble of the current Constitution states that the Republic of Korea inherited the March 1st Movement, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and the April 19th Democratic ideology. The author argues that including historical events that contributed to the spread of democracy, such as the May 18 Democratic Uprising, in the preamble of the Constitution has the effect of spreading and consolidating democratic ideology. Historical memory is neither simply an objective fact of the past nor a fixed entity. The same is true of the historical memory surrounding May 18. The aspect of memory politics that involves a constant process of reinterpretation reveals the conflicts of those who seek to dictate the norms and values ​​of a community by providing a framework for understanding the past and present. At this point, the question of what historical memories a society pays attention to and what historical narratives it shares is a matter of struggle for recognition that determines the community's values ​​and identity. Memories and narratives of democratization have normative power that contributes to the spread of democracy and controls anti-democratic behavior. Such memories and narratives can have practical power through laws that guarantee coercive power.