감성적 자아의 문학 치유과정 - 독일영화 『타인의 삶』을 중심으로

Abstract

This research is based on the German movie, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others, which received numerous film awards and therefore attracted considerable attention among German as well as European films. It attempts to analyze Captain Gerd Wiesler’s recovery process of emotional ego with the theory of emotional infection and the “Tetradische System” through this movie. However, this study does not make a point of analyzing the movie’s structure or characters. Instead, it prefers to focus on the main character, Wiesler, a specialist in interrogation and wiretapping, and how he is gradually infected and changed by another’s (a poet‘s) life. It attempts to examine this through actual images of change. Wiesler, who works for the East German secret police (Stasi), is a very loyal and mechanical human being in his profession. Accordingly, this study draws attention to how a cold-blooded man like Wiesler goes through the steps of the healing process and how he finally establishes an emotional ego. It shows that he exists between his present, actual being (“a speaking body”) and an external, influential world (poet’s verbal expression/ poet’s sensitive depiction), which he visits frequently. That induces him to participate in a process of re-shaping his emotions. Throughout the film, various personalities are depicted in Wiesler’s role in the movie. However, this study intends to deal with the motives which are related to emotional changes. In addition, the theory of emotional infection has been applied to discover which factors contribute to his undergoing alteration. This has also been analyzed through the “four steps of healing methods in literature”. Finally, this study attempts to prove that a person who has various personalities seeks an alter ego in himself through experiencing “the life of others”. In general, a human being remains in a ‘healing’ self who finally unites his body and mind instead of existing as a mechanical human being , and who also continues to pursue an alter ego in himself, despite living in a system of controlled society - shown through the example of socialism in East Germany.