소명의식으로서의 詩 創作과 시적 대상으로서의 自然- 尹東柱論

Abstract

Yoon Dong-Joo was born in a town called Myung-Dong in Man-Joo on December 30, 1917, and deceased at the age of 29 in Fukuoka Prison, Japan. It is known that he started writing poems in 1934. His poems written in the 1930s are characterized by his pure expressionism based on the compassionate appreciation of the nature. His literary works were published in newspapers and magazines through the acceptance of the submissions, not through recommendations by reputable poets. The relatively high number of his poems printed in the periodicals indicates that his poetry was positively accepted by the editors. However, he was not a poet recognized in the literary world. In 1948, his poetry collection entitled Sky, Wind, Star, and Poem was posthumously published with his 31 poems, preceded by a preface written by Jeong Ji-Yong. From that time, his poems have drawn much attention. At first, the appreciation of his poems was focused on his expressions of the nationalistic sentiment against the Japan’s colonial rule over Korea. Later, an increasing number of scholastic analyses on his poetry began to acknowledge that his poems go beyond expressing the resistance against the Japanese colonialism. In fact, the poet himself was neither physically involved in resistance activities, nor his literary works contained any apparent intent to instill the nationalistic consciousness or ideology into the minds of the readers. The present paper presents an analysis of his works with a conclusion that his poems are those of purely affectionate appreciations and that the words “sky, wind, and star” in the title of his poetry book Sky, Wind, Star, and Poem refect the “nature” beyond artificial intervention and “poem” refers to the creative process based on artificiality. The nature beyond artificiality is an existence, but the artificiality comes into being through acknowledging that human existence is simply voidness. The practice of writing poems is made possible by the transformation of human volition into creation and the substantiation of the existence. Any kind of manipulation discoloring the creation is far from the realization of human existence, but a mere expression of nothingness. The creation of poems is a calling from God, and the apt response to the calling. It is like taking the cross for the purpose of conversing with God. The poetry of Yoon Dong-Joo is the creation of spiritual (mythical) writings in his response to God’s calling, which enthrones him as the Poet of the poets. Yoon Dong-Joo was a real poet who inspirationally responded to God’s calling. He also exhibited the commendable stature of humans who endure the formidable type of loneliness for the substantiation of mankind. That is definitely a self-portrait of the mankind. The purpose of this study is to testify to these points through an in-depth analysis of his poetry.