이청준 소설의 공간 연구

Abstract

This study addresses Lee Cheong Jun's world of work and change of his consciousness on the basis of the correlative aspect between space and the character's consciousness by selecting the text which has a particular space in his novel. The 'space' in Lee Cheong Jun's novel has a meaning beyond a landscape, consistently showing an identical attribute throughout his work. In other words, city, hospital, prison, etc. are established as a closed and suppressive space, while sea, birthplace, and island as an ideal one. These spaces are miniatures of the society which involves the author's awareness of reality. In particular, in the specific social and cultural circumstances, the space exists in the relationships between characters, dominating their consciousness and raising their personalities upward. Further, it plays a general role by involving a variety of social and cultural changes. The 'space' in Lee Cheong Jun's novel is not merely a landscape, but dominates the characters' consciousness in the work while affording dynamics to the whole work. Lee Cheong Jun reflects the social phenomenons in his work by establishing a particular space. And he gropes for the reasons of wound inherent in the characters' world of thinking within the particular space. He indicates that the wounds does not belong to an individual but all the contemporary persons. Further he suggests that the wounds can be healed only by saving themselves and by pursuing a new ideal world through reconciliation and pardon in the reality. The process follows a consecutive order from a real space, through a boundary space, and to an ideal space. The 2nd chapter divides deviation and sense of frustration into spaces of escape, suppression, and disappearance. All the characters in the novel visit 'hospital' to deviate from the conflicts with reality, a framework of certain awareness or system. But there, they again come across a miniature of the reality, suffering from immersion into, loss of, and orientation to inner selves. In the 3rd chapter, assimilation on the boundary space and sense of recurrence are divided into the spaces of circulation and deficiency. Because to Lee Cheong Jun 'birthplace' is a place where he was hurt by his poor infancy, he even dreamed of escape from home and separation from the family. But the birthplace is a space of shame, and simultaneously an origin of life where he should return. As a result, the birthplace encourages self-quest in the weary urban life, a competing society dominated by the modern civilization, which leads to change a negative awareness of 'birthplace' by reconciliation with his family. Chapter 4 divides the sense of transcendence and paradise in the ideal space into the spaces of transcendence and relief. There exists conflict between 'fact' and 'fiction' among the characters in the novel in the 'space of transcendence', but in the end the will to realize an ideal world is revealed by the notion that 'fiction' may be sometimes closer to truth than 'fact'. Moreover, the will to embody such an ideal world appears in the form of arts such as literature or picture so that they can have a true 'home', a resting place of spirit. Above all, the 'home' they desire to possess can be achieved by harmonizing with the reality, which means a restoration of the relativity between man and man, man and nature, etc. Likewise, it can be achieved not by escaping but by sublimating the pains from the reality into arts. That is, the ideal space in Lee Cheong Jun's thought is created by believing the materialization of the ideal space and making continual efforts in living in the reality. Thus, the spaces which appear in Lee Cheong Jun's novel do not mean merely a background but are established under his minute composition. It is revealed by characters' conversation, thinking, or acts such as 'leave' or 'return', while changing their will to escape from the reality. It is the will to confront the reality in the contemporary social and cultural circumstances, through which we can look into even the author's world of work and change of his consciousness. Therefore, it may be an important clue to study the correlative meaning between space and the character's consciousness in the novel in order to consider the author's awareness of reality, his world of work, and even change of his consciousness.