生命으로서의 문학- 『無情』의 ‘생명론’에 관한 고찰

Abstract

The Literature as Life Lee, Chul-ho (Dongguk Univ.) Influenced by the new word, 'Life', Lee Gwang-su wrote The Heartless with that word, embodying and developing the modern subject in the novel. In such a context, The Heartless can be understood by the formation of romantic self and through the process of spiritually awakening the energy of life inherent in human being. In The Heartless, highly estimated as the origin of Korean modern literature, the self-awareness of the problematic character, Lee Hyung-sik was interestingly described on the focus of 'Life Discourse'. In the train heading to Pyeongyang, Lee Hyung-sik restored himself to a national leader by the internal process of simultaneously realizing the finity and infinity of Life. Lee Hyung-sik's self-consciousness is based upon the romantic view of human being in that his self is formed by the serious consensus with the nature or the God. Lee Gwang-su was a pioneering author who has recognized the utility of the concept of life. His self-awareness is related to the religious experience of Nishida Gittaro, and this religious realization made a sense of unity among national constituents in the novel of The Heartless. As Benedict Anderson says, the religious experience means 'Nishida Gittaro' as a psychological base which constitutes the concept of modern nationalism. The modern self in The Heartless is evidently revolutionary. The writers of that day called this new subjectivity as 'New man', which took an important position in the national reconstruction discourse of Lee Gwang-Su.