근대 초기, 풍전등화의 조선은 나라 안팎에서 맹인으로 곧잘 표상되었다. 그런데 1910년 이후 식민지가 된 조선은 더 이상 자신을 ‘남자 노인 맹인’과 동일시하지 않았다. 식민지 조선은 이들을 후경화하고 이후 ‘어린 여성 맹인’으로 대체하면서 이들을 타자화했다. 문맹타파를 외치며 진행되었던 이 과정에는 제국주의와 계몽주의, 서구 기독교화라는 근대의 파도들이 겹치게 된다. 0.05%라는 소수자의 언어였던 점자를 둘러싸고 일본 내지, 조선총독부, 기독교 선교부, 계몽주의 조선인들이 보인 관심과 활약은 근대화의 주요 화두인 ‘민족’과 ‘언어’, ‘계몽’의 문제를 보다 복잡한 국면으로 이끈다. 각 방면의 주체들에 의해 맹인은 문맹으로 주목되었고, 이제 문맹은 맹인으로 표상되었다. 눈을 감고도 미래를 말할 수 있던 점자(占者)는 손을 더듬어 점자(點字)를 읽어야 문맹으로부터 벗어나 문명해질 수 있었다. 이들은 자신들만의 언어를 통해 자유를 얻게 되는 듯 했으나 대체로 그것은 표현이 아닌 학습의 차원에서 소용되었고 따라서 점자로의 번역인 점역이라는 일방향적인 번역이 주가 되었다. 시각중심, 문자중심의 근대가 필연적으로 소외시킬 수밖에 없었던 맹인은 복지와 계몽의 제도로 구원받는 듯했으나 당시 벌어진 점자투표 사건 등을 보건대 결국 그들이 보내는 주파수는 언어화되지 않은 부호로 떠돌며 일반인 시야의 맹점에 남게 되었다.
In the early days of Modern History, the fate of the Chosun Dynasty that hangs by a thread was often symbolized as a person who was visually impaired within and also outside the nation. However the Chosun Dynasty that came under the Japanese occupation after 1910 did no longer identify itself as an ‘elder blind person’. Colonial Korea went through after hardening process, and afterwards, substituted itself as a ‘young blind woman’ by identifying itself with the other. This process, which proclaimed a crusade against illiteracy, occurred at the same period such as imperialism, the Enlightenment, and the Christianity under the influence of Westernization. The language of a minority such as the Braille, which constituted 0.05% of the population, led the key issues of modernization, such as ‘citizenship,’ ‘language,’ and ‘enlightenment,’ into more of a complex state, due to the agendas that arose from the concerns and the actions from Japan or the Japanese Government General of Korea, Christian missionaries, and people of the Colonial Korea who were influenced by the Enlightenment. Subjects from all sides rendered the blind as the illiterate, and thus the illiterate as the blind. The fortune tellers, who could predict the future even with their eyes closed, were considered literate, only when they were able to read the Braille with their hands. They seemed as if they were experiencing freedom solely through their own language. However, their own language was considered useful in terms of academics, rather than in terms of expression. Furthermore, one sided translation mainly took place, such as Braille translation from the Braille. A person who was visually impaired was inevitably excluded from the modernization that mostly functioned according to the visual and the inscription, and thus seemed to be saved under the institutions such as welfare and the enlightenment. But judging from the incident from voting of the Braille that occurred at the time, ultimately, the frequency that they sent solely gave way as a sign that were not made into a language, and thus remained a view in the eyes of general public.