이광수 초기 소설 연구-결핍의 양상과 그 해소로서의 무정』의 의미

Abstract

The status of Chunwon Lee Guang-su in the history of Korean Literature has been controversial. A case in point is the debate over whether "Mujeong" is the first modern novel in Korea. So far, most studies on Chunwon's work have taken a macro approach and focused on the history of Korean Literature. As a result, the micro approaches to motif analysis and inner mechanism have been limited. In discussing the work of a novelist, the micro approach based on development and changes should be taken over the argument about its position in the history of literature. In this context, this paper focuses on looking at the inner mechanism of the characters in Chunwon's early works. The inner mechanism means the development of changes in the characters' desire and deficiency. Basically, there are two kinds of deficiencies in the works: love and knowledge deficiencies. His characters try to correct the deficiencies. The characters in his early short stories get frustrated because they have to choose one between the two with equivalent values. In "Mujeong", however, characters resolve the both by selecting one with the both values in a love triangle; male protagonist "Lee Hyung-sik" chooses "Kim Sun-hyung" and female protagonist "Park Young-chae" chooses "Kim Byung-guk". After all, Chunwon's characters are evolved to correct the deficiencies by choosing the integrated value in "Mujeong", which is in line with the main themes of his works: encouraging the idea of free love and education and enlightenment.