재미한인 디아스포라 시에 나타난 생태 의식

Abstract

This study examined the ecological consciousness reflected in poems of the Korean American Diaspora. Ecological consciousness means that all living things are interconnected as a whole, and thus, all things should be treated equally without any discrimination. Therefore, ecological consciousness challenges today’s life style of exploiting and destroying the ecosystem, and urges human beings to feel remorse and change their previous behavior. This study explored the ecological consciousness present in the poems using two different categories. The first category is “cosystem destruction and Other Consciousness” which was caused by Civilization’s materialism. The second category is “the Changing Conception of Life and Universal Unity.”The first category expresses the following: destruction of nature, distortion phenomenon, gloomy future, and criticism toward acquisitive society. The consciousness of nature which appeared in Korean American poets also connotes their sense of being an immigrant and/or minority. In their poems, the image of nature being exploited was portrayed in connection with the image of them being a subjugated and minority people who became the Other. The second category discovers a new value and sacredness in nature. Nature recovers its original order, which reveals that human beings are a part of both nature and the universe. It also shows the sense of Universal Unity, which unifies human beings and things. The most noteworthy concept in poems of the Korean American diaspora is “The Reality of Diaspora and The Consciousness of Nature.” As ethnic minorities & immigrants who had left their homeland, Korean American poets expressed their “Other Consciousness” as interconnected along with their consciousness of nature. This is a distinguished aspect when compared with the ecological poems written by Korean poets. Korean American poems are very new to Korea. Thus, further study and discussion regarding Korean American poems will enrich the prospect of Korean poetry