통제 메커니즘으로서의 언어와 말하기여성의 문제를 중심으로 (Women's Alienation and SilenceFocused on the Problem of Language and Speech)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국언론학회
· 수록지 정보 : 한국언론학보 / 46권 / 3호 / 80 ~ 115페이지
· 저자명 : 김세은

초록

우리에게 여성은 무엇인가? 우리 사회에서 여성의 문제는 어떻게 위치지워져 있는가? 왜 아직도 여성의 문제가 더 논의되어야만 하는가? 이러한 의문에서 출발한 이 글은 한국 사회의 공론권에서 여성이 소외되고 차별 받아온 역사적 현실에 대하여 문제를 제기하고, 이러한 여성의 문제를 다름 아닌 일상의 언어와 말하기 행위에 초점을 두어 접근할 것을 주장한다. 이를 위해 이 글은 가부장제라는 틀 중심에 언어를 위치지우고 언어에 내재된 여성 통제적 성격을 부각시키는 한편, 한국 여성의 말하기 행위를 규정해온 이중의 강력한 메카니즘으로서 가부장제와 더불어 유교를 지목한다. 즉, 가부장 이데올로기에 의해 형성된 언어의 성차별적 본질과 그 실천 양식이 전통적인 유교 문화에 의해 강화, 확대되면서 오늘날까지 한국 사회에서 공론권의 개념 자체를 왜곡시키고 있다고 보는 것이다. 이 글은 언어와 말하기에 대한 다각적 논의를 통해 여성이 침묵하는 현실에 대한 정확한 이해와 반성, 나아가 민주적 공론권의 실천을 모색하는 것을 목적으로 한다.

영어초록

The patriarchal system, which refers to 'a system of government in which men ruled societies through their position as heads of households,' is widely found in many society around the world, Men proclaimed to be women's masters and women have been regarded as 'the object of property' in the patriarchal social orders in which masculinity is assumed as the norm and the standard while femininity is undermined as the margin. In Korea, the patriarchal system has been established more firmly owing to Confucianism which regards men as heaven and women as earth. I would argue that Confucianism has functioned as an irresistible background for women which has influenced women's communicative activities and that it should be regarded as one of the most sophisticated mechanisms to restrict women's autonomy. Women in Korea have been discriminated against in almost every field of everyday life, needless to say including in their political and social life. Until recent times, even women's speech has been strictly controlled and it has not changed very much even in the present day in 'male-oriented' Korean society. By Confucian values prevalent in Korea or Japan, they are still enforced to be obedient as much as they could. Being obedient means being silent, agreeing with her father, her husband or even her son. It is not a surprising fact that women's opinion is still neglected or even not asked not only in public sphere but also in private sphere in Korean society.
Women's silence needs particular attention to build any universal sense of the public sphere. I argue the issue of women's silence should be considered as one of the most critical problems to understand Habermas's theory of the public sphere, as it appears in any patriarchal societies, Western or non-Western. The negligence of women is not only a problem in Habermas but a deeply rooted tradition of Western political philosophy. Even if many feminist critics are drawn to Habermas's theory of the public sphere, I claim that they are not comprehensive enough to reveal the reason for women's silence. I focused more on the male-dominated structure embedded in language itself along the interaction with the patriarchal social system than the problematic distinction between the public and private spheres. I would emphasise the intrinsic structure of language itself as a mechanism which made women silent from the very beginning, while most feminist critics focus on the mechanism which made women's discourse concealed. The 'monopoly over language' exposes itself in the semantic level, for this reciprocity is protected and transmitted via sophisticated mechanisms such as sexism in language.
The inclusion of the agenda of women, however, which has been regarded as 'private' by most scholars so far, is essential to make the idea of the 'public sphere' possible and persuasive. What is necessary to make the appropriate adjustment of Habermas's theory is the consideration of 'the dialectic between public and private' or 'renegotiations of the public and private'.

참고자료

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