4월혁명의 기억과 글쓰기 ― 문학 속의 4ㆍ19, 특히 소설을 중심으로 ―

Abstract

This thesis tries to examine, from several angels, why there are so few novels that deal with the very process of the April revolution(4ㆍ19). To be more specific, this thesis is paying attention, in the novels directly portraying the revolution, to the main function of the revolutionary event in the plot, the concrete substance and problematics, and the relation of these to the peculiarity of the revolution. To be sure, the April revolution has been evoked so many times in literary history and criticism, but it is rare in literary works, particularly in novels, that we meet the April revolution, in its various features. In other words, there is a gap between the significance given to the revolution and its literary representations; in these representations there is also an imbalance of achievements between poems and novels. The April revolution is not so much an objective event that, as a thing complete in the past, affects the present, as a construct constituted backwards by a particular literary perspective and a particular ideology. This makes it necessary to consider two streams in recent Korean literary history symbolized by 'Changbi' and 'Moonji.' The former concentrated on realistic representation of oppressive reality and its overcoming, emphasizing praxis in contemporary history, while the latter focussed on the formation of contemporary sensibility in its difference from the 50's. The two streams lead respectively to 'incomplete revolution', on the one hand, and 'revolution of the present continuous' on the other. In the 'incomplete revolution' there is an indication of a furthering of revolution towards its 'more perfect' stage, maintaining its already acquired achievements; the 'revolution of the present continuous' makes itself a present thing as a process of transfiguration or diffusion, subjectively filling in a new space arising from a frustration of the revolution. This difference can be easily found in novels and criticisms. The April revolution as appears in the novels by Moosook Han, Taesoon Park, Sangwoong Shin is relatively simple. In a word, the vividness of the revolution is confined to the street protest scenes. In this sense, the mode of presentation and development in the novels can lose its attractiveness soon. This poverty in novelistic presentations of the April revolution is related to a peculiar character of the revolution. Unlike other historic events, the April revolution is, above all, a continuous repetition of short-lived eruptions. This is clear when we compare it with Kwangju uprising in 1980. Therefore, writers have chosen to retrospect, post factum, on the impact of the event rather than to abundantly introduce the historic scenes of the revolution into the works.