구병모 소설의 재난 의식과 에코페미니즘의 상상력 - 단편소설집 『고의는 아니지만』(2011)과 『그것이 나만은 아니기를』(2015)을 대상으로

Abstract

While the traditional Western ethical philosophy aims for an objective viewpoint in the order of universalism, the ecofeminist ethics was embodied in the process of criticizing the western modern universalist ethics. If the pursuit of universalism's moral principles is based on objectivity and universality under the assumption of identity, then if any judgment is made in the conviction that it is universal, there is an aspect of reaching the conclusion that it is ethically justified. Ecofeminists want to consider the individuality of the actor and various contexts, although the action exists in an abstract and universal standard. Ecofeminist ethics do not deny universal moral philosophy per se, but oppose universalism that produces exceptions because it does not come into its own moral considerations. In particular, it is opposed to the fact that the dominant convictions of anthropocentrism and androcentrism place nature and women in the same domain of exception and expand the domain of the human other. If we can properly recognize the moral situation only by listening to the stories of moral “actor/agent,” how can we hear the voices of the human and non-human others? With this question, we can read the disaster novel of Gu Byeong-mo. In Gu Byeong-mo's novels, disasters, whether natural or human, are interpreted as the cry of others excluded from the community. Disaster is reproduced as a way of requesting interpretation as an active subject rather than a passive exception who has lost its voice. The fantastical metaphors of Gu Byeong-mo's novels (「Chojanggi」, 「History of Tendril Syndrome」, 「Pharmakos」) make us recognize the other as a new being who reveals himself in the form of a disaster and asks for dialogue, not a transparent being. Gu Byeong-mo's narrative of discovery of fear can be regarded as the narrative ethics of 'rewriting others'. On the other hand, the spirituality of Gu Byeong-mo's novels (「Insect Encyclopedia」, 「Foreign Object」, 「History of Tendril Syndrome」) extends consideration for oneself and others and the possibility of dialogue to other beings on the earth. The bizarre spirituality of 「Insect Encyclopedia」 provides an ethical opportunity by asking meaningful questions about life in the precarious boundary between sacredness and impurity. The conviction of life in the main character's calm attitude is to inform that the female body is being reborn as a place to ask meaningful questions about life, rather than being reduced to a resource for production. A spirituality that seeks to experience the connection between women and nature immediately and sensibly is a particular ecofeminist method in that it can more fully reveal an important context that rational value systems are supposed to be missing. It is worth emphasizing the ethical momentum of Gu Byeong-mo's narrative of discovery of fear. If the narrative genre itself is to confirm differences while being wary of holism, and that is possible with concrete and vivid language, the narrative of discovery of fear concretely contextualizes anti-ecological and anti-life violence. The next step is to recontextualize the novel situation by having the reader empathize with and sympathize with the world of the novel. In terms of ecocriticism, it offers “a highly contextual attempt to see clearly what a human being and what the non-human world might be, morally speaking, for human beings.”