기억과 몸의 구속: 『1999년생』과 『기억전달자』의 비교

Abstract

This paper deals with two texts of young adult literature: Charlotte Kerner's Geboren 1999 (1989) and Lois Lowry's The Giver (1993). In these texts, memory is a recurring theme, which overwhelms the whole textures of them respectively. The process of controlling memory is shown in The Giver. Jonas, the Giver, is an elected, atypical leader called the Receiver (of memories for others). He and his people are living in a utopian society where there are no wars, fear and pain. However, the community where they are living is like a prison without walls simply because there is no free will on the other hand. Therefore, there is something massively hidden from the superficial reality such as corruption, inhumanity, and concealment. Jonas could uncover the stinky absurdities and leave the community to search for his real identity even though he has magnificent power to control others' memories and deliver some regulated memories to others. In Geboren 1999, Karl seems to have no memory about his mother. In search of his own mother, Karl faces various realities related to his birth. In the end, he found out he was born from an AU(artificial uterus), nurturing donated sperm and egg. It is difficult for Karl to admit an AU is his mother. For that reason, he destroyed the AU by himself. He called this incident “an unprecedented matricide”. In so doing, he makes his own way to establish his genuine identity.