오정희 초기 소설에 나타난 부재(不在)와 기다림 -『유년의 뜰』을 중심으로-

Abstract

This paper aims to establish the roots of Oh Jung-hee's literary world by re-reading the early novels of Oh Jung-hee, especially The Garden of Childhood, The Chinese Street, Empty Field, and Byeol-sa under the theme of 'the Absence and Waiting.' First of all, the absence and waiting in the The Garden of Childhood, and The Chinese Street were associated with specific objects, and there seemed to be room for interpretation from a feminism perspective. In other words, the tragic perception of feminine/motherhood was observed in the absence of specific characters and in waiting for them, and the resulting feelings of sadness and compassion were observed in these two novels. Next, 'He', the object of absence and waiting in Empty Fields and Byeol-sa, seemed to be an abstract idea and could be interpreted as The absolute or The something to have self-identity. The speakers of the two novels waiting for 'He' suffer from anxiety caused by the division of time and the collapse of self-identity, and experience the anxiety as an inevitable fate stemming from human beings themselves. In short, sadness/anxiety as a condition for women/human forms the root of Oh Jung-hee's literary world, and in mid-late novels, overcoming its roots is sought in various ways.