2010년대 여성소설에 나타난 '자기 돌봄'의 윤리

Abstract

Since the 2010s, a focus of ethics has shifted toward ‘the other’ from the ‘subject’. The reason why was that raising a question about the subject composing the modern developmental logic led to the dominant voice to criticise the alienation or exclusion of the other. As such, when representing the focal movement from the subject to the other into literature from a profound dimension, an emphasis is put on the ethics of ‘care’. The existing ethics centered on the subject was based on ‘justice’. On the other hand, the ethics centered on the other is based on ‘care’. In particular, in the 2010s ‘care crisis’ when values including ‘empathy·devotion·cooperation’ are being threatened, such care ethics is being re-illuminated as the new feminist ethics. Of course, the care ethics is a controversial concept criticised even from the feminism since the care ethics itself can make females move back to the status of the patriarchal suppression. A solution to overcome these limits of the care ethics may be the ethics of ‘self care’. The ‘self care’ ethics is the very concept which complements one-sided and selfless aspects of loss possessed by the care ethics from mutual and self-preserving aspects of selection. As for young feminist writers's novels created during 2010s, 『Women and Evolving Enemies』by Kim Sum, 『About the Daughter』by Kim Hye-jin and 『Four Neighbor's Dinner Table』 by Gu Byeong-mo create the ethics a narrative in common. The reason why is that they criticise suppression and ideality of the existing care ethics and extend it to the feminist ethics positive and active which denies both idealization and derogation of females. Particularly, these novels are significant feminist novels in that they are embodying the ethics of ‘self care’ in terms of ‘dependency-responsiveness-intersectionality’.