‘환상’으로서의 시의 위기 -1990년 이후 문학장의 변화를 중심으로-

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the literary field in Korea has evolved in continued efforts to respond to discourses on the so-called “crisis” of literature. Around the same time, the pace of cultural commercialization accelerated across the cultural industry in Korea, and the traits of literature began to undergo transformation as well that used to be based on type faces and printing media. At the core of the transformation was the emergence of multimedia, computer and the internet. Changes in circumstances and environment that surrounds literature perplexed many fledgling writers launching on their writing career at the beginning of the 1990s. Maybe it is not so important to illuminate whether the widespread feeling of perplexity was the essence of the “crisis”, or the changes in literary environment evolved into a graver and more thorough transformation as to be called a “crisis.” Similarly, it might not be a significant issue to clarify the essence of the “crisis” in the literary circle, because the so-called crisis that depressed the world of literature and publication since the 1990s was not about a judgment of actual phenomenon, but more of a depiction of psychological depression that stemmed from the harsh reality of shrinking ground for literature and publication. Reflecting this, this study referred to the crisis as “fantasy” to indicate the shrinking feeling. Here “fantasy” is not used in the sense of unrealistic imagination, but rather as a basis that constitutes psychological reality as referred to in psychoanalysis. Apart from the discussions on the crisis of poetry in Korea since 1990, many occasionally raised voices to declare the crisis of poetry in the realm of Korean literature until recently, and each time, people in the literary field had heated debates over the appearance of crisis. In this context, the theory of crisis is closer to an external factor that triggers a specific line of thinking, than to a question that requires a factual judgment. Each time the reference of a crisis has fueled enervated literary circle with renewed energy. Against this background, this study focuses on examining how contemporary critics have responded to the crisis of poetry, and what controversial points divided their views.