셸리 시에서의 섭식과 대화적 상상력

Abstract

This study approaches Percy B. Shelley’s poetry from the perspective of ‘eating’ to clarify the eco-centric consciousness in his poems. The organic process of eating is tied with, what M. M．Bakhtin (1895–1975) called, ‘dialogic imagination’. As both require ‘interaction between subject and object’ and have ‘dialectic developments’, the linking of eating and dialogic imagination is quite suitable for explaining the intrinsic relation between the inside and the outside, one and the other, and human beings and nature. The eating in this study has gradual steps following every natural dietary process: 1) A Prescription for Natural Diet, 2) Indigestion as the Absence of Communication, 3) Digestion as Communication with Nature, and, in conclusion, 4) The Production of Biocentrism. Shelley’s early production, Alastor, or The Spirit of Solitude, acts as ‘A Prescription for Natural Diet’ by showing what prevents a natural diet. The poem shows a young poet who wants to satisfy his mental hunger for his soul not the physical one for his body. Prometheus Unbound shows ‘Indigestion as the Absence of Communication.’ The indigestion comes mainly from the lack of consideration of ‘the eater’ for ‘the eaten’ clearly seen from the eagle who violently devours the liver of Prometheus. Queen Mab clarifies ‘Digestion as Communication with Nature.’ The queen asks humans to extend their senses to accept and comprehend “all that the wide world contains”(21). Only after the extension does she believe, “no longer now / He slays the lamb that looks him in the face” and “see(s) a baby sharing his meal with a basilisk”(28). All of the processes lead organically and 셸리 시에서의 섭식과 대화적 상상력 271 naturally to ‘The Production of Biocentrism.’ In the poetry of Shelley, the biocentric world is one in which “An equal amidst equals stands” (28), as Queen Mab says. Bakhtin’s dialogic imagination denies absolute or authoritative (monologic) consciousness, believing that reality is based on the interactions of a variety of subjective (dialogic) consciousnesses. ‘Eating’ in Shelley’s poem, consequently, is considered to be a dialogue between ‘the eater’ and ‘the eaten’ without any discrimination between ‘superiority and inferiority’ nor between ‘strength and weakness’―a poised and harmonious dialogue between human beings and nature. With the ‘physical and existential’ dialogue, human beings recognize the object eaten, nature, without which they cannot survive. This daily-based recognition may be the most powerful remedy for the existing environmental war. Consequently, “eating” in Shelley’s poetry is considered to be a “dialogue” between human beings (the eater) and nature (the eaten). And with the ‘physical and existential’ dialogue, human beings recognize the object eaten, nature, without which they cannot survive. This daily-based recognition can be the most powerful weapon against the existing environmental war.