손창섭 단편소설에 나타난 소년상 연구- 전복된 성장서사에 대하여 -

Abstract

Main characters in Son Chang-seop’s short stories are mostly characterized by negative as well as peculiar aspects. In fact, they end up becoming an outsider failing to be a person acceptable in a community. They can be regarded as a passive and negative person only avoiding their reality; however, clearly, it seems to be needed to analyze it again in that they were not pushed out of the community passively but maintained their own particular ‘view’ about life actively and ‘chose’ to live like that themselves. Although they did not show their intention to improve the given environment aggressively, they gave a distinctive sign of being never willing to agree with the world by ‘doing nothing’ and ‘existing as a strange being’. Focusing on the background and history that made them have that kind of standpoint, we can never miss to recall their boyhood naturally. Advanced studies have examined the surroundings and social context paying attention to the features of the characters that have already become adults, but this study focuses on ‘boys’ narrowing the range of study subjects. It is to look into how they have turned out to be ‘different adults’ while retaining their own perspective in what sort of growth background. The boys refuse to grow in a way acceptable to the so-called ‘world of adults’, and this is revealed through the aspects of crossing family romance. They intend to vacate ‘the spot of a father’ forever instead of having desire to fill in ‘the absence of a father’. Moreover, while being pushed out to either a marginal or outside spot as they are, the boys become ‘a stranger’ and bring about collision in the community. Due to the attributes of the spot they occupy, they are apt to be isolated from the community; however, through ‘union’, they show the aspect to cope with ‘the world of adults’. With such aspects of boys, Son Chang-seop’s characters look passive and escapistic superficially, but in fact, they can be evaluated as a type of persons who strive to keep their own position both actively and positively.