다문화 시대 우리 소설의 역사 읽기

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine how Korean history can be learned through Korean novels, such as 'Namhan-San Fortress', with emphasis on the code of multi-culturalism under the assumption that Korea is entering the Age of Multi-culturalism. First, the novel 'Namhan-San Fortress' can be regarded as a fortress of words that provides historical information with 'vacancy' and 'soliloquy'. It can be understood that Kim Hoon's writing style embraces the paradox of 'vacancy' and 'soliloquy' by considering the assertion that a literary work is an expression of the 'vacancy' and internal 'soliloquy' of the writer. In the novel, the author expresses vacancy as space for conversations among various characters while the speaker leaves his own soliloquy to allow the reader to differentiate between characters and the speaker. In this respect, there are features and limits of conversation in the work. The fact that readers respond greatly to the space of vacancy shown in the 'Song of Words' by numerous characters, and the freedom of soliloquy by the writer proves that the Korean society is becoming Multi-cultural. Second, since the 'individual' has only started to appear in recent literature, people and even the royal family and the king were not allowed to be individuals in old books and stories. However this new historical novel has found 'individuality' for those people and makes it possible for the reader to witness the discovery of individual personalities in history. In the novel, it is important to pay attention to the appearance of the boatman who was killed by Kim Sang Heon's sword at the ferry, the boatman's daughter, and the blacksmith Seo Nal Swe. Despite the assignment of diverse figures, the writer is cold towards the characters who prove themselves with words and protective towards characters who prove themselves with actions. Compared the historical novels that focused on heroes and ignored the ordinary people, or the novels that acknowledged people as only subjects of history, this novel reminds us that people are also individuals. This novel draws the readers through the trend of change into multi-culture that enables recognition of the existence of minorities rather than by the self-consciousness of individuals. Third is the relationship between anti-historism and multi-culturism. Anti-historism is another attitude toward history. If the destructive strategy of this work should be criticized as political nihilism, this could be a criticism against the current readers rather than against the writer. But there are people who do not agree with the concept of 'history' as it is described in 'anti-historism'. People who criticize anti-historism still talk with a nationalistic view of history while the lessons in 'Namhan-San Fortress' are translated in another aspect by the people who accept multi-culturalism. 'Namhan-San Fortress' is not a epic about history that was forgotten by anti-historism, but an excavation of records that were buried and ignored. Though sometime shameful and painful, the story and lessons should be deeply considered, and it is the way historical literature should be written in the age of multi-culturalism.