문학이라는 행위－1960~70년대 문학과 이청준의 「소문의 벽」－

Abstract

This paper aims to elucidate the complex relationship between literature and politics during the 1960s and 1970s by examining Lee Cheong-jun’s “The Wall of Rumors.” The novel portrays the way power was exercised during that period through the form of ‘interrogation’. Notably, the novel offers a fascinating portrayal of the context in which the writers were experiencing the formation of neurosis. While many writers of the time addressed the relationship between literature and politics in various ways through their works, few explored the issues surrounding psychological oppression and creative freedom with the same intensity as Lee Cheong-jun, and incorporated them into their novels. Lee Cheong-jun is a particularly intriguing subject of discussion because he sought to explore the ‘right to write’ by creating texts that cannot/should not be easily interpreted, paradoxically experimenting with the various possibilities that the act of literature can imply in places not adequately captured by the obvious framework of ‘oppression and resistance’. Furthermore, Lee Cheong-jun wanted to demonstrate that the ‘act of literature’ can be understood as a kind of ‘movement of thought.’ His novels underscore that literature does not only end with resistance to the system, nor does it exist merely as a sacrifice that testifies to the existence of power. They also offer an interesting perspective on how literature can act to create a particular world. By revisiting these features in the context of the 1960s, this article seeks to provide a perspective on the contemporary significance of Lee Cheong-jun’s fiction writing and to consider the contribution of his literature to thinking about the relationship between literature and politics.