김소진 소설 연구

Abstract

ABSTRACT A Study of Kim So - jin's Novel

Park Kill sung advisor : Prof Kim Houng Jung Ph. D Department of Korean Languange and literature Graduate school of Chosun University

From 1990s, Korean literature made a sudden turn from massive discussion of nationalism and people till 1980s to micro discussion of literature. This is caused by the collapse of socialism in 1989 and the skepticism toward variable socialism thoughts, and finally by the need to overcome the people and also, the mainstream of Korean literature in 1980s. However, in the process of turning into 1990s, the issue of 'chronicle trends' have been shown. In discussing the Korean modern and contemporary literature, ‘chronicle trends’ have been widely shown every 10 years. The problem was that the issue of 'pioneering the new literature genre' in those changing times were regarded as challenges both by the existing writers in 1980s and by the 'new age writer' in 1990s. However, ‘new writer groups', in accepting those challenges, attempted to write not as the group by the nationalism but as the individual having 'self', destructing the structure of macro theory in 1980s. However, in their such attempts, they looked the other way from the issues of class and nationalism, social exclusion, inequality and suppressed freedom and were only aimed at ‘finding myself’ and ‘self-actualization’, which even became accepted even as ‘crisis of literature of 1990s’ in the literature society. This paper examines Kim So-jin as the writer who deviated from such nature of other writings in 1990s. Indeed, he has the same characteristics of those times, such as interest as individuals not as any part of group which is deviated from the massive theory. However, he overcame such problems of other writings by uniquely writing on his own. First, he has varied and carnival style in his writings. He expresses his independent self by writing varied and small writings. Second, to make it more objective and ensure the meaningfully independent self, he took perspectives of third person, unlikely other writers at that time. In additions, his carnival style writings include interest in the excluded people to suggest how to overcome the contradictions in the Korean society in 1990s. Kim So-jin has many other differences to other writers. He resists the society's contradictions through so called ‘mean and abject things’, showing the people who try to be independent from such contradictions. Independent people is expressed as the individualism people who try to the member of the community, not as the one who makes social conflicts. Such characteristics are aimed at make harmony as the member of community through independent self, deviated from the inner individualism to which other writers in 1990s sought. Kim So-jin‘s such writing style made influence on the subsequent writers who came afterwards. Especially using the individual in the people to destruct massive theory of the people so far by then, Kim So-jin enabled to approach to the individualism and self, which took the pioneering role beyond 1980's literature, solving the problems of the 'new age writers' in 1990. Besides such pioneering role, he included the ‘mean and abject things’ and extended further toward the new genre. Even though being one of those writers of the chaotic times of literature in 1990s, Kim So-jin represents his times through his writing style differentiated to other ‘new age writers’. Especially, by showing interest in people and expressing them as independent self, he set an example of later writers. Reminding of this point, although his standing is somehow a little ignored in the literature history, Kim So-jin‘s standing in the literature history, Kim So-jin’s achievements and standing and re-appreciated and repositioned.