성장소설의 기호학 - 김승옥의 성장소설「乾」과 은유/ 환유 (Semiology of Bildungsroman: Metaphor and Metonymy in Geun, a Novel by Seung-Ok Kim)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국문학이론과비평학회
· 수록지 정보 : 한국문학이론과 비평 / 13권 / 3호 / 307 ~ 332페이지
· 저자명 : 이창남

초록

This paper aims to conceive a plausible semiological structure of the Korean Bildungsroman Geun. The structure of the novel shows the shifts from the metaphoric mode of thinking to the metonymic mode, as the protagonist of the novel leaves behind a world of specular fantasies and enters the unfamilliar world of an adult. This shift is conveyed through the two main plots in the novel, which are the following: the burial of the dead communist guerilla, who is shot dead in a combat between the communist guerillas and the Korean military in the small city, which is the background of the novel, and the conspiracy behind the rape of a schoolgirl, Junhee.
The first plot unfolds with the protagonist longing for the dead body of one of the guerillas who he expects to be alive. But the wish of the protagonist is in reality replaced by a similar but entirely different act of the father of the protagonist, who burys the guerilla. The second plot revolves around the protagonist’s brother who conspires with his friends to rape Junhee. Junhee strikes the protagonist as a motherly figure. However, he participates in his brother’s conspiracy and plays the role to seduce Junhee to "Maega" (a house on sale).
From the perspective of the semiological structure of the novel, the connotation of this house on sale, which incidentally is empty, is compelling. The house originally belonged to Meeyoung, a girlfriend of the protagonist when he was much younger. After Meeyoung leaves the house, it serves as a playground for nurturing the protagonist’s fantasies. In other words, the house is symbolic in that it is where the semiological exchange and replacement between things and words happen not metaphorically but metonymically. When considering the modes of the replacements, it is evident that the exchange and replacement do not resemble any of the original desires of the protagonist.
The Junhee-plot is closely connected to that of the dead guerilla insofar as the author uses the rape as a symbolic burial of the girl. The two main plots show the shift from the specular fantasy of the protagonist and make a clear passage from the metaphoric analogy to a metonymic contiguity in the narrative of the Bildung. The latter is typical to the adult world, where there remains nothing in the world that evokes the reflective fantasies of the young protagonist. This change leads to the insight of the impossibility of representation, which is suggested by the broken windows of the buildings in the war-ridden city.
The trauma of the war, which is used as the backdrop of the story, appears to have an implicit impact on the maturation of the protagonist. While on one hand, the repetitive imitation of the father’s actions and of the adult generation could be understood as an appropriation to the world, on the other, it can be viewed as an end to the metaphoric fantasies. This is indicated in the scene of the symbolic castration described at the end of the novel.
Modern Bildungsromans like Geun shows the dark side of the maturation of a person, something that is veiled in traditional Bildungsromans that propagandize self-completion during the maturation. In this sense, Geun can be viewed as an anti-Bildungsroman, representing the impossibility of the ideal self-completion in terms of the personal Bildung moreover, it shows the impossibility of the representation in terms of the narrative. The narrative of the Bildung is woven on the borderline of the possible and the impossible, wherein the structure of the story shifts from metaphoric to metonymic.

영어초록

This paper aims to conceive a plausible semiological structure of the Korean Bildungsroman Geun. The structure of the novel shows the shifts from the metaphoric mode of thinking to the metonymic mode, as the protagonist of the novel leaves behind a world of specular fantasies and enters the unfamilliar world of an adult. This shift is conveyed through the two main plots in the novel, which are the following: the burial of the dead communist guerilla, who is shot dead in a combat between the communist guerillas and the Korean military in the small city, which is the background of the novel, and the conspiracy behind the rape of a schoolgirl, Junhee.
The first plot unfolds with the protagonist longing for the dead body of one of the guerillas who he expects to be alive. But the wish of the protagonist is in reality replaced by a similar but entirely different act of the father of the protagonist, who burys the guerilla. The second plot revolves around the protagonist’s brother who conspires with his friends to rape Junhee. Junhee strikes the protagonist as a motherly figure. However, he participates in his brother’s conspiracy and plays the role to seduce Junhee to "Maega" (a house on sale).
From the perspective of the semiological structure of the novel, the connotation of this house on sale, which incidentally is empty, is compelling. The house originally belonged to Meeyoung, a girlfriend of the protagonist when he was much younger. After Meeyoung leaves the house, it serves as a playground for nurturing the protagonist’s fantasies. In other words, the house is symbolic in that it is where the semiological exchange and replacement between things and words happen not metaphorically but metonymically. When considering the modes of the replacements, it is evident that the exchange and replacement do not resemble any of the original desires of the protagonist.
The Junhee-plot is closely connected to that of the dead guerilla insofar as the author uses the rape as a symbolic burial of the girl. The two main plots show the shift from the specular fantasy of the protagonist and make a clear passage from the metaphoric analogy to a metonymic contiguity in the narrative of the Bildung. The latter is typical to the adult world, where there remains nothing in the world that evokes the reflective fantasies of the young protagonist. This change leads to the insight of the impossibility of representation, which is suggested by the broken windows of the buildings in the war-ridden city.
The trauma of the war, which is used as the backdrop of the story, appears to have an implicit impact on the maturation of the protagonist. While on one hand, the repetitive imitation of the father’s actions and of the adult generation could be understood as an appropriation to the world, on the other, it can be viewed as an end to the metaphoric fantasies. This is indicated in the scene of the symbolic castration described at the end of the novel.
Modern Bildungsromans like Geun shows the dark side of the maturation of a person, something that is veiled in traditional Bildungsromans that propagandize self-completion during the maturation. In this sense, Geun can be viewed as an anti-Bildungsroman, representing the impossibility of the ideal self-completion in terms of the personal Bildung moreover, it shows the impossibility of the representation in terms of the narrative. The narrative of the Bildung is woven on the borderline of the possible and the impossible, wherein the structure of the story shifts from metaphoric to metonymic.

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