이제하 소설의 광기(狂氣) 연구

Abstract

This study aims to speculate behavior types and psychological conflicts shown by characters in Lee, Je-ha’s novels based on previous studies. It focuses on identifying the meaning of madness of the characters by examining real images and their life styles in the novels. Basically, the world is filled with systemized violence and brutal greed, from which humanity is hard to find. The characters in Lee Je-ha’s novels face with the world to protect their humanity and in the process, projected behaviors and psychological conflicts produced in the process is defined as madness. They have madness because of uniform violence in the world. The society since the Korean War formed a fundamental frame based on powerful control for rehabilitation of society. They experience coercive violence in their daily living. The world in the Lee's novels is brutal governed by the law of the jungle, in which the logic of group is surging and brutal violence and greed dance boisterously. The madness of the characters in Lee Je-ha’s novels are roughly categorized into three: First, it is a desire to depart radically from the world. They attempt departure from violent society that oppresses themselves. Their home is a subject to be departed because it is the place which keeps oppression and violence of real world. They oppose marriage system or military service. However, in spite of their desperate effort, they find they can not depart from the society they belong to. Second, they consistently dream of change while living in real life. They deny themselves at the same time when they realize they are not normal. It is followed by hatred against being normal and they become to recognize themselves as animals. Also, they seek for compensation of what is impossible in real world through dream or illusion. Third, they suggest dedication. They become scapegoats who neutralize violence by willingly selecting death or make others scapegoats by using violence. And by killing animals, they sublime group violence. The characters in Lee, Je-ha’ s novels have madness to survive in the world dominated by destruction and violence or in the world freedom and personality are exterminated. The madness exposes the back side of systemized and destructive society as another form of life while bringing what is expelled from the real world. His novel intends to seriously identify how human have to live in the world dominated by violence and the theme of his novel is to live as humans in this institutionalized and violent world.