시와 시론의 문학적·사회적 가치 - 1960년대 김수영과 김춘수 시론의 상호관계

Abstract

Along with the modern Korean poetry marking its history of one hundred years, the theory of poetry, which attempts at the theoretical foundation of poetry, also marks its history of one hundred years. It is hard to say that modern Korean literary circles of the early twentieth century established any distinctive theory of their own. Yet modern Korean poetry has become more unique and more systematically established in its theory in the latter half of the century. Kim Soo Young's and Kim Choon Soo's 1960s' theories of poetry play two significant roles in bridging the former and the latter halves of the twentieth century. It is also remarkable that they are not only well known as poets, but also unique in their own theories of poetry. The 1960s was the period filled with poetic energy, in the sense that the period beginning with the 4.19 Revolution was the one of the strong desire for a pro-democracy and also the one of its frustration. The social momentum to build the democratic civil society transformed the agricultural society into the industrial society, stimulating the expression of diverse individuality. The expression of two different individualities shown by Kim Soo Young and Kim Choon Soo also reflects the social atmosphere of the 1960s. The theories of poetry of Kim Soo Young and Kim Choon Soo might be defined as developed from their own consciousness of each other. It means that their theory of poetry acquired from the tension which was formed between the two contemporaries served as a driving force for their poetic creativity. It is a great contribution they made to the literary history as poets as well as theorists that they opened up a new poetic field in modern Korean poetry by combining poetry and its theory. In this sense, it is significant to cite such poems as Kim Soo Young's "Variations of Love (sarangeui byunjoogok)" and "Grass (pool)," or Kim Choon Soo's "A Short Poem of Chuyong (chuyongdanjang)" and "The Tone in Taryong (taryongjo)" as good examples closely related with their theory of poetry. Needless to say, the fact that their theories have become the creative foundation for the poems, and that their poems the theoretical foundation for the theories demonstrates that they established a new literary milestone amid the intellectual chaos of the 1960s. Generally speaking, the two theories of poetry maintained by Kim Soo Young and Kim Choon Soo are different in that Kim Soo Young's "Theory of the Whole Body" represents monism that does not differentiate poetry and poet, while Kim Choon Soo's "Theory of Meaninglessness" designates dualism that distinguishes poetry and poet. Kim Choon Soo's theory of poetry presupposes poetry as fiction and poetry as existence; Kim Soo Young's theory of poetry pursues classical perfectionism that does not differentiate poetic authenticity and ethics from poetry.