1960~70년대 ‘여류시’의 특징과 그 의미 변화 -『한국여류문학전집』을 중심으로-

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze changes in the poetics and subsequent impact of ‘women’s poetry in the 1960s and 1970s. Although an increase in the number of female poets in the 1960s resulted in the creation of women’s poetry as a unique sect in literary world, their activities did not receive significant attention. As “women’s poetry” was identified with sentimental literature it was implied that poetic works by women lacked literary value. This paper explains the characteristics of Korean women’s poetry in the 1960s and the 1970s, using works anthologized in The Collection of Korean Women' s Literature. The purpose of this paper is to analyze changes in the poetics and subsequent impact of ‘women’s poetry in the 1960s and 1970s. Although an increase in the number of female poets in the 1960s resulted in the creation of women’s poetry as a unique sect in literary world, their activities did not receive significant attention. As “women’s poetry” was identified with sentimental literature it was implied that poetic works by women lacked literary value. This paper explains the characteristics of Korean women’s poetry in the 1960s and the 1970s, using works anthologized in The Collection of Korean Women' s Literature. At the time, criticism of “women's poetry” was so limited that any differences or changes occurring within the genre was obscured. Thus constrained by the literary norms of the era, women poets began to convey their attitudes and affirm their emotions by distancing themselves from critical discourses. Critics especially pointed to the “female speaker” as a cause of sentimentalism, but for the women poets, only this voice could express their reality and alienation. Women’s poetry in Korea in the 1960s the 1970s ultimately found a poetic that captured the unfamiliar and uncomfortable circumstances of daily life—an important accomplishment at that time. Among the Korean women poets, Kang Eun–kyo and Noh Hyang-rim, belonging to The Collection of Women’s Poetry, display distinct literary value. The female speaker in Kang Eun–kyo’s poetry represents the lowest and most alienated voice in society that is able to express the reality of violence and oppression. Noh Hyang-rim’s poetry, meanwhile, consistently presents the reader with landscapes and personified objects; through these experimental techniques, she creates images other than that of the traditional “feminine” image. Therefore, Noh Hyang-rim’s poetry can be regarded as existing outside the common notions of “women's poetry.”