김수영과 시각(視覺)의 문제

Abstract

Kim Soo Young had an ambivalent attitude toward western modernity. In earlier poems, mostly written in the 1950s, he revealed a preference for occidental modernity which propelled the development of the modern western world. He believed that the absurdity of the past which was mainly the result of obsolete traditionalism and Confucianism could be eliminated or, at least, diminished by the influences of 'imported' occidental modernity and that Korea could, through the benefits of such modernity, develop as the west had. However, at the same time, he also noticed that occidental modernity, which is based on the construction of the privileged subject had some negative aspects. The modern privileged subject tends to neglect 'the other' which is regarded as quite different from the subject itself. In later poems, written in the 1960s, he criticized the negative aspects of modernity and ultimately endeavored to find a third way. We can grasp Kim Soo Young's attitude toward western modernity well by viewing his poems in terms of 'visuality'. Many of Kim Soo Young' poems are so visual that we are able to visualize the picture being drawn by the poem and thereby construct 'the visual field' of his poems. As John Berger has pointed out, 'the way of seeing' is determined by the influences of social, historical and cultural forces, so we can grasp Kim Soo Young's attitude toward modernity by analyzing some different 'ways of seeing' appearing in 'the visual field' in his poetry. By this, we can understand more clearly why Kim Soo Young had such an ambivalent attitude toward occidental modernity and finally, what his poetic vision was.