이창래의 『제스처 인생』(A Gesture Life) 연구 ― 하타의 죄의식의 원천 및 극복 연구 (A Study on Chang-rae Lee’s A Gesture Life: the Possibility of Building Meaningful Relationships Beyond a Sense of Guilt)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 현대영미어문학회
· 수록지 정보 : 현대영미어문학 / 33권 / 4호 / 51 ~ 74페이지
· 저자명 : 신영헌

초록

This article aims to analyze Chang-rae Lee’s A Gesture Life, focusing on the reasons why the protagonist fails to build meaningful relationships in his life. Until now, two kinds of approaches have been taken to elucidate Hata’s problems. Some critics attribute his conflicts with his Korean adopted daughter, Sunny, to his persistent desire for assimilation and passing to the power centers of the imperialist country. Others assert that his trauma during the Pacific war has tortured and prevented him from communicating sincerely with others, which in turn stems from his sense of guilt that he didn’t do anything when he should have done something to prevent the death of Kkutaeh, a Korean comfort woman. However, he neither ignored his duty to care for her nor persistently pursued passing to higher class and rank. Those previous approaches failed to pay enough attention to Kkutaeh’s subjectivity in deciding her own destiny. By encountering with painful memories, Hata pleads guilty to his blind allegiance to the nation-state which caused him to do evil to two helpless women. The novel leaves a positive perspective that the protagonist would recover from his trauma in the process of rescuing Renny and Thomas, another two helpless minorities.

영어초록

This article aims to analyze Chang-rae Lee’s A Gesture Life, focusing on the reasons why the protagonist fails to build meaningful relationships in his life. Until now, two kinds of approaches have been taken to elucidate Hata’s problems. Some critics attribute his conflicts with his Korean adopted daughter, Sunny, to his persistent desire for assimilation and passing to the power centers of the imperialist country. Others assert that his trauma during the Pacific war has tortured and prevented him from communicating sincerely with others, which in turn stems from his sense of guilt that he didn’t do anything when he should have done something to prevent the death of Kkutaeh, a Korean comfort woman. However, he neither ignored his duty to care for her nor persistently pursued passing to higher class and rank. Those previous approaches failed to pay enough attention to Kkutaeh’s subjectivity in deciding her own destiny. By encountering with painful memories, Hata pleads guilty to his blind allegiance to the nation-state which caused him to do evil to two helpless women. The novel leaves a positive perspective that the protagonist would recover from his trauma in the process of rescuing Renny and Thomas, another two helpless minorities.

참고자료

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