다름에 대한 거부감 : 공간과 몸으로 해석하다

Abstract

Placed in an multi-cultural society where diversity is highly regarded, we tend to perceive the other and its difference only with our brain, and not to accept and approve them with our heart and body. When we are confronted with difference, we have a sense of conflict, awkwardness, and repulsion. The sense of repulsion is initially caused by the defence of the self against the other. This thesis attempts to regard the sense of repulsion as a hindrance to appreciate and approve the diversity and difference of individuals and cultures. Self-identity is located in the geographical, physical, psychological, social, cultural spaces, and the sense of repulsion is produced according to the time and the capital which occupies these spaces. As the sense of repulsion is reduced, the space of the other is increased in my own space, and then the center of the self can move to the new space. The sense of repulsion is the manifestation of shame arising when the self is rejected by the other. Private taste and inclination may be the causes of rejecting the other, and bring about the sociocultural discriminations. An analysis of the physiological vocabularies used for expressing the sense of repulsion shows that a great number of them are closely related to the body and the feeling of anger. The Book of Ruth helps to explain the problem of repulsion caused by difference and discrimination. A reinterpretation of Ruth’s story in terms of space and body tells that she was the woman of strength and tenacity who took the risk of being relocated into a new space to care for Naomi’s old and weak body. To be a friend and a companion to the weak, Ruth confronted the sense of repulsion that she might have to meet with in a different culture, and showed the exemplary case of enduring the possibility of repulsion, caring the other’s body, and sharing the space.