체험의 비극과 의지의 낙관, 그 사이의 인간군상: 정한숙 소설을 중심으로

Abstract

This paper aims at the “a study of Jeong Han-sook”, which has not produced meaningful research results since the 2000s. Jeong Han-suk is positioned as a “postwar new generation writers” and showed vigorous artistic activities along with Son Chang-seop, Seon Woo-hwi, and Jang Yong-hak. Even if it is limited to novels, his work counts over 160 pieces. However, compared to other writers, existing research on Jeong Han-sook is in a state of stagnation. In order to overcome this, this paper reviewed the problem of a chronological list of the author’s works in Chapter 1. In particular, while pointing out that the whereabouts of the early works published during the Korean War are still unclear, this paper took issue with the overlap of some works and the exclusion of others from the publication of selected writings. In Chapter 2, this paper paid attention to the shape of the “a third-class person” revealed in his work, noting that the title of “postwar new generation writers” has no conceptual framework to visualize it. Chapter 2 shows that “a third-class person” was also a pathological image of human beings created by the unique sense of the generation that experienced the historical upheavals of colonization, liberation, and the Korean War in conjunction with Son Chang-seop’s “surplus humans”. In Chapter 3, this paper pointed out that “Geumdang Mural painting,” “Baekja Potter Choi Sul,” and “Geumeo,” which are often referred to as artist novels, function as aesthetic versions of the positive human image pursued by Jeong Han-sook. Contrary to the general tendency to discuss Jeong Han-sook’s fictions, this paper critically recounts that the positive Moral human figure in the shape of a traditional artist governs the so-called artist novel, leaving open the possibility of rereading his work in terms of continuity rather than disconnection. In Chapter 4, the last chapter, this paper concludes by reminding us that a broader interest and discussion on the literary achievement and meaning of historical novels that make up his major work world is needed.