박지원 산문에 나타나는 ‘명(名)’의 문제에 대한 고찰

Abstract

This study explores the problem of “name (myŏng, 名)” in Pak Chiwŏn’s prose works Sŏn’gyultanggi (蟬橘堂記), Kwanjaegi (觀齋記), Palsŭngamgi (髮僧庵記), and Yŏngjaejipsŏ (泠齋集序). While Sŏn’gyultanggi discusses the emptiness and constraints of names, it also expects that they will induce efforts to discover the “true form” of the things themselves. Kwanjaegi observes how all things, from the self(ah, 我) to the name(myŏng, 名), change and die through the teaching of “obediently receiving and conveying.” While both works talk about the emptiness of names, they paradoxically also demonstrate their possibilities. Moreover, Palsŭngamgi highlights the contradictory existential condition of humans’, particularly literary intellectuals, ceaseless attempts to make a name for themselves, while Yŏngjaejipsŏ explores what this means through literature. The analysis can also be contrasted with Pak’s political treatise Myŏngnon (名論) in which he describes how the property of pursuing fame, that is, making a name for oneself, is a fundamental element that decides human action. In sum, the aforementioned works do not refute the making of names and making a name for oneself, but reflect Pak’s anxieties regarding such actions. Within his strong repudiation and doubt, he indirectly expresses the possibilities and necessity of leaving a name behind through humor, concealment, reversal, and twists.