김현승 시의 상상력 연구

Abstract

ABSTRACT

A Study on Imagination of Kim Hyeon Seung's Poetry

Jeong Soog-In Adviser : Prof. Baek Su-In, PH. D. Department of Korean Language and Literature, Graduate School of Chosun University

This study is intended to reveal Kim Hyeon Seung's poetic spirit and conscious-intentionality by analyzing his poetic world with its focus on the imagination of his poetry. Although Kim's poetry has been hugely discussed and produced corresponding results, the true nature of imagination has not been sufficiently examined. Thus, this study actively accepted discussion on poetic imagination originating from an image which is a basic element of poetry in the existing researches and began to discuss in its extension. Poetic imagination is a source of mediate thought beyond the dichotomy of human beings and the world, matter and spirit, and reason and emotion that is a underlying element of creation. It is a framework which mediates nature, human beings(the inner), and heaven developed in a dialectic aspect in Kim's poetic world. It is because his poetic world can be explained in the correlation of Western Christian thought based on Eastern imagination. To look over his poetic world, his poetry was divided into the early, middle, and last periods. First of all, nature-intentionality reveals the trend of seeking for materials in nature as a means of coping with dark situations of the times of those days. The inner(human beings) is represented as internal distress and heaven intentionality indicates a new understanding of resurrection to arrive at salvation before the last death. This triple imagination is the interpretation of intellectual history of Kim's poetry, as well as the basis of poetic and Christian imagination. To look over Kim's poetic world from many angles, real self and nature-focused imagination was examined. It focused on romantics holding national emotion and human beings' ontological reflection but there exists conscience reflected in nature and human internality of social justice. Also gratitude for God connected with nature and divinity revealing intention seems to be fused. In nationality projected in nature, he fuses intelligence with natural beauty to accept the trend of modernism at that time and shows an intellectual attitude towards the composition of poetry to explore intellectual self as an intention to survive dark reality in the Japanese colonial period. It reveals criticism against reality and divergent consciousness. Unlike before, in internality reflected in nature, he advocates passion about nation originated from social conscience with his belief and intention and reveals a strong intention to realize social justice. In divinity connected with nature, he forms the poetic world that aims at heaven by exposing symbolism of images of 'tears', 'fruits', 'crucible', 'jewel', 'light', and 'hour' and giving eternality as a hard crystal implying light and darkness. Ethical self and inner-focused imagination characterizes the middle poetry of the absolute period of loneliness. Human existence consciousness is strongly expressed due to the absence of God. As revealed in titles of poetry, a critical mind of the existence of self is strongly manifested based on the aspect of dual contradiction of divinity and secularity. It is a large reform in his life and he tries to explore the most original self to inquire into the world of human loneliness. In the expression of nature and the inner, nature has infinity contrary to human beings' finity to achieve unity with nature, not personified nature as shown in early poetry. Thus the poetry of the middle period has empathy about imaginary nature as emotional community without separating nature from poetic self. In the loneliness of the inner and heaven, the essential and the eternal is a symbol. In Kim's poetic world, when 'flowers' and 'fallen leaves' fall, 'fruits' are produced, which implies the order and truth of the universe. Then loneliness in the boundary of extinction and eternality aims at eternality through crystal by the aspect of dual contradiction such as the body and the soul, death and life, finity and infinity, phenomenon and essence, and earth and heaven. Transcendental self and heaven-focused imagination of the last poetry repents the middle period of denying God, represents the meaning of thanks and reconciliation. It implies the meaning of heaven-intentionality but nature revealing heaven, heaven, and changes in the inner are connected. In his last years, he becomes a believer in God as the meaning of heaven-intentionality. Human beings cannot be infinite and yearning for salvation toward God is placed as the goodness. It suggests that the poetic world of the middle period that aims the truth of existence through a strong idea was a struggle for his last years. He wants to live religious life in peace and quite, taking down all things. Nature that shows heaven seek reconciliation with God. It is his earnest hope to take part in the relationship between nature and human beings irrespective of rational logic or poetic meaning. In the changes in heaven and the inner, he seeks for the conversion of existence to recover the relationship with God in the limitation of human beings. Poetic self is longing for the heavenly from the earthly that is got in true experience and then the transcendency of lonely being that is replaced with eternality. Kim's poetry has the structure of nature-, inner(human beings)-, and heaven-oriented imagination. He attempts to recover eternality through nature-intentionality in the early poetry, inner-centered imagination in the middle poetry, or reconciliation with heaven in the last poetry, suggesting triple composition of imagination that the early, middle, and last periods are connected. His such poetic consciousness is intended to construct the essential self of human beings, which allows him to be assessed as a poet shaping inquiry into the eternal world beyond human beings' consciousness and providing another suggestion in Korean modern history.