백낙청의 「시민문학론」에서 인식과 실천의 매개로서의 ‘사랑’ — 「티마이오스」에 대한 전유를 중심으로

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify the meaning of Baek Nakcheong’s intellectual practice in relation to the flow of knowledge field in the mid-1960s through a reading of “The Citizen Literature Theory” (1969). Recent studies on “The Citizen Literature Theory” sought to clarify the text’s position in relation to the intellectual flows formed in knowledge fields outside literature, such as history and religion. However, discussion has tended to be about the influence or acceptance of knowledge formed outside the literature field. This paper argues that “The Citizen Literature Theory” is a response to the challenge left by Park Chung-hee’s ‘national democracy’ in the 1960s knowledge field. That challenge was the synthesis of ‘citizens’ and ‘nation’. Baek Nak-cheong’s answer was to abstract the concept of ‘citizen’ and present it as a kind of situation. Baek Nak-cheong’s mechanism of synthesising ‘citizen’ and ‘nation’ was formed through reference to Plato’s “Timaeus”. In the “The Citizen Literature Theory”, Baek Nak-cheong, like Plato, implicitly presupposes that holistic recognition causes feelings of obedience. In that premise, Baek Nak-Cheong argues for the superiority of realism literature. After “The Citizen Literature Theory”, Baek Nak-Cheong’ logic emphasized feelings of obedience rather than holistic recognition. This paper explains such changes from a point of view of inversion in the Platonic scheme. Finally, this study asks whether the Baek Nak-cheong’s theory achieved only the effect that he intended. The conclusion of this study suggests that the logic of Baek Nak-cheong emphasized the emotions of the individual rather than the collective and may have paradoxically produced unintended results.