ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

This study aims to recontextualize the representation and meaning of "death" in the literature of Kim Dong-in during the 1920s within the broader framework of contemporary literary trends and intellectual discourse. Focusing particularly on his short story “Life”(Moksŭm, 1921), the paper analyzes how death is not treated as a transcendental object of fear, but rather as an existential issue closely tied to human emotion, instinct, and perception. Based on an internal narrative analysis, it investigates the cultural and intellectual context that led Kim Dong-in to engage deeply with the theme of death, paying close attention to the influence of mysticism in the 1920s―especially the literary and philosophical ideas of Maurice Maeterlinck. This study examines key narrative devices in Life, such as the dialogue with the devil, shifts in color perception, and the separation of body and soul, to explore how death is portrayed as an internalized experience and a sensory event grounded in reality. The analysis demonstrates that while Kim’s thought resonates with Maeterlinck’s mysticism, it ultimately articulates a distinctive literary meditation on death. In “Life”, death is redefined not as a transcendent phenomenon but as a fundamental instinct embedded within the human psyche―experienced through the body and senses. This perspective reveals how Kim Dong-in’s early fiction traverses literary currents such as naturalism, romanticism, and mysticism, while aligning closely with neo-aestheticism, which emphasizes the sensory and instinctive dimensions of human interiority. His work reflects a complex interplay between science and art, beauty and ethics, sensation and reason. Through the theme of death, his literature seeks to probe the intimate truths of human existence.

키워드