잠의 척력을 중심으로 『도시의 흉년』 읽기

Abstract

Based on the theoretical approach on the close relationship of sleep and capitalism, thisarticle analyzes the sleep motif that appears in Park Wan-seo’s Bad Years of the City, to tracethe genealogy of sleep that has been under-valued in the course of modernization and to explorethe possibility of moving further over the productivity discourse. The article, firstly, analyzes patterns that myth of wealth and development in modern societymake sleep invisible, and reactions that the everyday lives are colonized by sleep, focusingon the position of “mother” who represents growth-oriented mentality. The family led by a mother, who succeeded in becoming the middle class by making somefortune to her family, is represented by madness and polish. The kitchen is a place of uninterruptedmadness to advance and growth, and the living room is highlighted as a place ofgloss for showing off. Such growth-oriented and exhibitionist desire is closely related tonon-visualization of sleep, which, in reverse, results in colonization of everyday lives by sleep. This article tries to can look at the account of sleep, in which the non-visualization of sleepleads to the transfer of sovereignty. Through the process of non-visualization of sleep, themodern motto of wealth and development reveals a kind of myth. Next, it is noted that the generation of her daughter, Suyeon carries out the alternativeimagination of resistance against productivity discourse, which leads to notice that sleep is locatedat the forefront of neutralizing the myth of money. To the Suyeon’s generation, sleepmotif is some resistance and attack to the greediness of capitalism of her mother’s day. These findings prove that they have some opportunities to gain autonomy and self-relianceagainst the dominant ideology of productivity and growth. Furthermore, this article revealshow their sleep goes beyond the momentum of resistance and promotes the possibilityof an alternative life. This article posed that sleep is not a tool nor any surplus placed underhuman control, but a subject that can make some salient affect on human lives, and based onsuch findings, this article can advance to the gateway for restoring the forces of natural periodicityand reflectivity, and thus reveal the potential of alternative modernity.