한국 아동 청소년 문학에 나타난 기후 위기 내러티브 양상

Abstract

This paper aims to reveal the meaning of climate change in Korean children’s and adolescent literature by analyzing how they represent the issue of climate crisis. A picture book for toddlers, four young adult works for adolescents, and three post-apocalyptic novels were analyzed as texts. Baek Hee-na’s 『Moon Chabette』 was chosen for analysis because it is as rich in imagery as a children’s novel and has a high level of trust in the author. Based on the novel imagination of the melting moon and a deep sense of problem, 『Moon Chabette』 captures the harm of civilization, the severity of the climate crisis, and the restoration of community life. In young adult literature, we analyzed how climate catastrophe is represented in the four works in 『the capsule for one』, including 「Gaia’s Choice」, 「Capsule for One」, 「Coachella」, and 「In Search of Light」, in order to understand the ways in which climate catastrophe is represented in the works. The four works were set against the backdrop of real-life disasters to show the truth that a bleak and hopeless future awaits if we fail to stop the climate crisis. Among them, 「Coachee」 and 「In Search of Light」 tell a narrative of hope by showing young people demonstrating their humanity and having the courage to reject manipulated hopes. Next, we looked at post-apocalyptic works that dealt with the aftermath of climate catastrophe, focusing on 『Sinker』, 『Dive』, and 『Snowball』. These works share common themes of identity, life, and freedom. Rather than actively exposing the climate catastrophe crisis, the works focused on the dreams and courage of youth, showing the importance of life and the will to freedom. The significance of climate crisis-themed children’s and young adult fiction is that it guides readers to understand the various issues of the climate crisis and provides them with the wisdom to respond to it.