중·한 소설에 나타난 여성적 시선의 '자리'와 예외의 '노라' - 장아이링의 「금쇄기」와 오정희의 「바람의 넋」을 중심으로

Abstract

This paper examines the representation of the formation of the female subject in the works of two East Asian female authors, Eileen Chang’s “Golden Cangue” and Junghee Oh’s “Wind’s Soul.” In both novels, the women protagonists seek to attain subjectivity by means of their acquired power of the gaze. The movement of gaze can be seen as the movement of the "Locus" of power. This is different from the general 'space' movement of Nora's discourse constructed by modern intellectuals. For Qiqiao in “Golden Cangue,” the path to subjectivity involves her assuming the position of an agency of the gaze through an incessant traversing of the fantasy of desire and becoming the big Other. Qiqiao’s attempts to become a subject, however, run against the reality of a war-stricken society and the repression by the patriarchal tradition, and the resultant sacrifice of her family leads to her demise and final disillusionment. Eunsu in “Wind’s Soul” is also portrayed as a critical female subject, but her gaze is directed solely toward herself and thus her narrative deviates from the tragic conclusion of “Golden Cangue.” In her existential quest for the self, Eunsu leaves home and rises above the male gaze of which she is constantly cognizant by actively deploying it to her advantage. The transference of the power of the gaze in Chang’s novelette and the narrative of leaving home in Oh’s overlap with each other in their common focus on the shift in the position of women within society, the Ibsenian Nora-motif. The two authors’ protagonists, however, deviate from the established motif in significant ways: Qiqiao’s movement upwards — upstairs — is an exception vis-à-vis the horizontal movement of the Ibsenian motif; Eunsu’s departure from home does not result in her joining the vanguard of a revolution, hence her divergence from the desired effect of the established motif. The two authors, I argue, have forged a new vision for the female subjectivity that breaks from the androcentric body of literature. At the same time, the plots of the two novels displace the established and neutralized Ibsenian motif of a woman leaving her home, hence a double blow to the androcentric narrative.