‘소문’에 대응하여 형성되는 ‘신여성’의 기표 －나혜석의 단편 「경희」(1918)를 중심으로

Abstract

This article reads Kyung-Hee, Hye-Suk Na’s first work, as the process of forming ‘the New Woman’ identity and reinterprets the understanding that, during that time, the discussion of ‘the New Woman’ was formed through the motif of ‘rumors’. ‘The New Women’ was the subject of ‘rumors’ and the product of ‘Rumors,’ after it appeared on the stage of discussion in Cho-Sun. However, the important thing is that these ‘rumors’ not only unveiled people’s understanding and desire for ‘the New Woman’, but also acted as the principal axis that formed the conception of ‘the New Woman’. The narration in Kyung-Hee is a good example of the method in which the rhetoric of ‘rumors was used. The narration in Kyung-Hee presents a series of ‘rumors’ in which patriarchal order is reflected and forms the ‘authentic’ conception of ‘the New Woman’ through the denial of this order. However, the virtues of ‘the New Woman’ that are presented by Kyung-Hee are syngeneic with the discussion of male intellectuals in a colony that intended to make themselves the “Others”, and have a confederate relationship with ‘the ideology of a wise mother and good wife’. Within the ignition/ventilation structure, ‘rumors’ are spoken by ‘the old woman’. A problematic point of the novel is that it conceals the view of a male subject and encourages solidarity between ‘the old woman’and ‘male’. Kyung-Hee shows that, through ‘rumors’ relationship with modern systems like the newspaper, ‘rumors’ at that time about ‘female students/the New Woman’ were engaged in confirming public discussion. In Kyung-Hee, the identity of ‘a new women’ is in the process of being formed by the restless denial of others. It is not irrelevant that ‘Kyung-Hee’is spoken for by others and can’t speak for herself, keeping consistent distance from the speaking technique of enlightenment. Therefore, ‘Kyung-Hee’ adopts inner self-reflection to discover the content of ‘the New Woman’ that is suitable for ‘the New Woman’s signifiant. However, ‘Kyung-Hee’s inner agony is sutured by individual’s ethic of duty. It suggests that the discussion of ‘the New Woman’ in those days couldn’t escape the view of a male subject spoken in ‘rumors’. As implied in Kyung-Hee, what encourages the discussion of ‘the New Woman’ was the desire of the male subject that surrounded ‘the New Woman’. However, Kyung-Hee presents the possibility of solidarity between ‘the old woman’－‘the new woman’ under the banner of enlightening. Kyung-Hee, which intends to capture ‘the old woman’ involved in ‘rumors’ following the logic of enlightening, shows the possibility of feminine ignition and shows a difference type of resistance through the new method that appropriates ‘rumors’.