배익천 동화 속 ‘나무’에 나타난 생태의식

Abstract

In this paper, we will examine the ecological awareness of the author Ik-Cheon Bae, based on a discussion of the major character ‘Tree’ appearing in his fairytales. Bae has shown a strong interest in ecology and the laws of nature since he first emerged as an author. The major themes in his writings are natural entities, such as trees, flowers, grass, ants, spiders, birds, dogs, rocks, and caterpillars. These themes are pure nature, without artifice or human intervention. Bae highlights the problem of ecological disruption through anthropomorphosis of these natural entities. In particular, by selecting a tree as one of his protagonists, Bae clearly demonstrates his ecological awareness. This can be described broadly in terms of three characteristics. The firstis an awareness of life that respects nature, and aims to protect nature and allow it to exist in its original state. The second is an awareness of communication with nature, in which the sense of isolation is overcome by waiting. The third is an awareness of coexistence, in which humanity and nature are recognized as one, living in harmony. These three types of awareness also equate to actually practicing love of nature. Thus, Bae constructed the world for his fairytales based on the perspective that humans and nature are one. Tree is at the heart of this philosophy. In this paper, we examine Bae’s ecological awareness by looking at the fairytales in which Tree is the protagonist. Inspecting this ecological awareness is very important, since it originates from the author’s philosophy of life, which involves obeying the laws of nature and respecting all life.