현대시의 형이상학적 상징의 기능 연구

Abstract

In order th comprehend the complicated nature of symbol in poetry, it is necessary to define the differences between a metaphysical symbol and a physical one. In a certain view, we may say that metaphysical symbol is not possible separately because, when a symbol is successful, naturally it has metaphsical, trancendental meanings. Nevertheless it is convenient for us to distinguish the two kinds of symbol in our interpretation of symbol in poetry. While profound interpretation of a symbol provides us with a means to understand universal cosmology, its wrong interpretation leads us into a total misunderstanding of poetry. In effect, all the arguments in science and religion are different interpretation of the truth revealed by symbol. In order to comprehend the nature of symbol correctly, we should question whether the symbol belongs th a metaphysical, transcendental and intrinsic world or it belongs to a physical, realistic and phenomenological world. Physical symbol refers to an object perceptible th our senses through experiential modes of expression. We mat call this “direct symbol”. For example, when we say, “She is a beautiful flower”. ‘the flower’ is a direct symbol of her. On the other hand, metaphysical symbol refers to an abstract object which cannot be perceived by our sences. It may be called “indirect symbol”. In other words, physical symbol os a kind of rhetorical skill performed by human language in the physical world of time and space, and metaphysical symbol is an implication of the transcendental world and the secret of being beyond our experiential perception. The conception of “God” in religion is a good instance of what I call metaphysical symbol. Traditionally oriental literature has had primal emphasis on presentation of object-the transcendental experience of creation. In the view, Korean modern poetry has a very prospect background to develop into highly metaphysical symbolic poetry.