호손의 「천국행 철도」에 나타난 초월주의와 미국사회에 대한 비판의식 (Transcendentalism and Criticism on American Society in Hawthorne's "The Celestial Railroad")

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 충남대학교 인문과학연구소
· 수록지 정보 : 인문학연구 / 49권 / 3호 / 85 ~ 104페이지
· 저자명 : 민경택

초록

호손은 미국 낭만주의 문학을 대표하는 작가이지만 단순히 현실과 거리가 먼 비현실적이고 이국적인 세계를 그린 것이 아니라 낭만적인 구조를 통하여 진리를 탐색하였고 현실에 대한 날카로운 비판의식을 드러내고 있다. 호손은 그의 장편소설에서처럼 많은 단편소설에서도 인간 삶의 어두운 측면을 드러냄으로써 진실의 세계에 도달하고자 하였다. 그는 죄, 악, 구원, 도덕, 종교 등의 주제를 통하여 인간의 본성에 대한 풍자와 사회에 대한 강한 비판의식을 드러내고 있다.
호손은 그의 우화적인 단편소설인 「천국행 철도」에서 당시 미국의 정신세계를 지배하고 있었던 초월주의사상을 신랄하게 풍자하고 있다. 특히 호손은 초월주의자들의 삶에 대한 낙관주의에 반대했으며 인간의 불완전성이나 악에 대한 인식을 통한 삶의 비관주의에 더 천착하였다. 호손은 「천국행 철도」에서 존 번연이 쓴 『천로역정』의 내용을 현대적 감각으로 패러디하고 있다. 원작인 『천로역정』이 종교적인 우화이듯이 호손은 「천국행 철도」에서 우화적인 기법을 사용하여 초월주의와 과학과 물질주의에 함몰된 미국사회를 함께 비판하고 있다. 궁극적으로 호손은 「천국행 철도」를 통하여 인간 삶에 대한 낙관주의는 물론 과학과 물질을 맹신하는 산업화 시대의 미국사회를 강하게 비판하고 있다.

영어초록

Although Nathaniel Hawthorne was a representative novelist of American romanticism, he continued to probe into the truth of human life and revealed his critical perspective on American society through the literary system of romanticism rather than a simple depiction of an unrealistic and faraway world. In many short stories as in his novels, he sought to reach the truth by emphasis on the dark side of human life. He showed his satirical vision of human nature and strong criticism on society with subjects such as sin, evil, redemption, and morality.
In "The Celestial Railroad," an allegorical short story, Hawthorne made a scathing satire on transcendentalism which was dominating the world of Americans' spirit at that time. In particular, he opposed not only transcendentalists' optimism of human life, but also inquired the problem of pessimism through human imperfection and perception of evil. "The Celestial Railroad" is considered a parody of John Bunyan's allegorical novel The Pilgrim's Progress. As The Pilgrim's Progress was a religious allegory, Hawthorne criticized transcendentalism and American society which was indulged in science and materialism by using allegorical technique in "The Celestial Railroad." Ultimately, Hawthorne criticized scathingly American society that had blind faith in science and material in the period of industrialization as well as transcendental optimism on human life in "The Celestial Railroad."Even though the narrator of "The Celestial Railroad" tried to make his journey to the celestial city easy by using helpful modern inventions like railroad and train, he didn't bring about his purpose. He even went as far as to have a strong skepticism on the existence of heaven. Futhermore, he came to think that he couldn't reach there. In "The Celestial Railroad," Hawthorne also showed his consistent criticism on Christian religion and faith as well as human nature. He even asserted that although religion was flourishing in 'Vanity Fair,' evil continued to exist instead of disappearance in the human society. He emphasized on the existence of contradiction and absurdity in religion and human society. In conclusion, Hawthorne satirized optimistic and loose faith along with transcendentalism, and also criticized a material-oriented social phenomenon in the process of industrialization through an advance in science.

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