동양, 서양으로 가다 20세기 초반 미국의 근대성 비판을 중심으로

Abstract

A Study on East Goes WestA Criticism of the Early 20th Century American Modernity Jinyoung MinThis paper is focused on the analysis of Younghill Kang's East Goes West: The Making of an Oriental Yankee as a criticism of the early 20th century American modernity. In the novel, Chungpa Han comes to America with the hope of finding an alternative life in the modern American society. However, he gets to know that modern American society is different from what it proclaims to be and what he expects. There pervades the reality of racial discrimination despite America's ideal of democracy. The capitalist economic system, which brings materialistic wealth, leads to the loss of spiritual vision, materialism, utilitarian interpersonal relations, reification and mechanization of human beings, and moral corruption. Younghill Kang succeeds in suggesting his critical message with his strategies such as using a positive-sounding subtitle, characterizing Chungpa Han as his seeming other self, and putting the sharpest criticism into other characters' voices. In conclusion, Younghill Kang is a social novelist who deconstructs the early 20th century American modernity with a keen social insight and a pioneering historical consciousness.