서정주 시의 자연의 재발견과 연생성 : 시집 『귀촉도』, 『서정주 시선』을 중심으로

Abstract

Seo Jeong-ju’s early poems are related to the original sin, Nihilism, separation and conflict between body and soul, mental chaos. Through these themes, he seeks after western style poetry. However, his poetic trend changes into traditional eastern style. Thus, he shows various aspects in his poems such as nostalgia, family, coexistence, rediscovering the Nature and integration of beings. In his 2nd and 3rd collection of poetical works, which is considered his first change in his poetic trend, his poems reveals themes such as optimism, rediscovering the Nature and imagination of human beings and the Universe. This shows his conception based on Buddhist Ecology, which is characterized by Karma, reincarnation and mutual dependence. He shows his aesthetic sensitivity through the poems in the 2nd and 3rd collection, integrating moment and spirit, coincidence and inevitability, and mass of individuals and universal unity. Through the motif of nostalgia, Seo Jeong-ju separates from western style and internalizes the concept of resurrection and rebirth. In addition, he gains confidence on the identity of the egos. The natural environment in his poems shows consideration, coexistence and innocent life. In particular, ‘flowers’, which is one of the most frequently used subjects, symbolizes dynamic actions of glamorous life. Instead of separating flowers from human beings, he recognized them as one unity. The theme of discovering the nature in Seo’s poems sees individual lives as a whole identity in harmony with the Universe, which is a typical Ganda-vyuha conception. In his poems, the Nature constantly communicates with human beings. In other words, human beings continuously participate in the Nature. This illustrates that Seo perceived Buddhist concept of non-existence of ego. This space is meaningful because it shows an aspect of Perennialism, which appears in his late period poems. This space is filled with life energy of revival and resuscitation. It could be stated that Seo’s integrated view of view in the nature proves his position as an icon of Ecology in Korean modern poetry. That is to say, in his poems in his late period, he changes living creatures into a whole spiritual unit based on continuity of life. In this period, his poems show Perennialism, which is a literary practice of Buddhist conception of reincarnated life. This is originated from Seo’s unique viewpoint to recognize all living creatures as interactive organism.