<사씨남정기>에 담긴 혐오적 시선

Abstract

‘Stepmothers’ and ‘mistresses’ have been considered as loathsome people in Korean society. This study speculates on this topic. Martha Nussbaum, a philosopher and law professor defined the feeling of loathing as denial of things that make oneself polluted. Furthermore, she reported that loathing is a problem in that it has been used as a powerful weapon in social efforts to exclude specific groups and the people in them. Centering on such a definition of loathing, this study looked at <Sassinamjungki> as a novel on domestic affairs. By analysing the loathsome perceptions of mistresses and stepmothers which present problems in our society through <Sassinamjungki>, this study aims to be retrospective of Korean society. It has been known that Kim Man-Jung, a writer, was motivated to write this novel to make women reflect on themselves. For this purpose, the writer configured Sa and Gyo as a good person and an evil person respectively through narrative composition of a contrast between good and evil, and demonstrated how much people could be immoral to meet their needs through Gyo. In addition, he borrowed the voice of a narrator to criticize the immoral behavior of Gyo to the readers of the novel and make them hate Gyo. Through such a narrative strategy, Gyo has been considered as a loathsome person by readers. However, a loathsome consciousness is problematic in that ‘loathing’ is not confined to denial of crimes which violate ethics and morals but it can be expanded to perceptions of specific persons or groups. The loathsome view used in <Sassinamjungki> contains narrative strategies to make mistresses including stepmothers loathsome. No one is warned that the loathsome view can be expanded into a group loathing consciousness as this novel has exerted literary power. However, it is certain that it is one of social and cultural influences that <Sassinamjungki> brings.