Apophasis as an Approach to Diasporic Identification in V. S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas

Nagyung Sohn 한국영미어문학회 2015 영미어문학 Vol.- No.116

Nagyung Sohn. 2015. Apophasis as an Approach to Diasporic Identification in V. S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas. Studies in British and American Language and Literature 116, 123-141. This paper explores apophatic aspects of the diasporic identity quest in A House for Mr. Biswas. A House is one of V. S. Naipaul’s novels that delineate Indian immigrants’ diasporic experience in postcolonial times. Seeking identity is what the postcolonial immigrants inevitably confronted, and, in this regard, it is not strange that the subject of identity and its identification recur in Naipaul’s writings. In this paper, this issue is explored through apophasis, a form of rhetoric and reasoning, in that Mr. Biswas gains his individuality through apophatic speculation. Apophasis is a way for finding or describing a certain ambivalent object by using negative propositions, or by using words to highlight its ineffability. In terms of seeking his diasporic identity, Mr. Biswas pursues his individuality by going through the long course of denying and doubting his family relationships, Hindu traditions, Indian groupism, and postcolonial institutions. Similarly, his emotions in relation to his family and his desire to write about his life are described, in part, as unsayable. That is another facet of apophasis: a communing experience beyond words with the paradox of “expressing” by “not expressing.”

Guinea and James Wait’s Blackness as Allegory

( Nagyung Sohn ) 대한영어영문학회 2016 영어영문학연구 Vol.42 No.2

This article is to investigate the blackness of Guinea and James Wait, the black characters of The Confidence-man: His Masquerade and The Nigger of the "Narcissus". These two novels share prominent similarities in regard to the blackness of Guinea and Wait. Guinea and Wait are the lone black men surrounded by the white in both narratives. Even though their presence is confined to a small portion of the entire tale, Guinea and Wait disrupt and test order among the white characters. Their blackness, or their black bodies, are not only a physical feature, but also a symbol of the ambivalent features of the darkness: the weak and humble black appearance and black contagious potency concealed behind its weak appearance. The dark power that these characters signify is able to dissolve the people’s morals and the white seamen’s solidarity. However, Guinea and Wait play different roles in each narrative; that is, Guinea opens the door for the passengers to get into the world of trickery, but the crew of the Narcissus successfully upholds its solidarity against Wait’s darkness. (Keimyung University)

The Aesthetics of Social Science Fiction in the 1960s: Thought Experiment through Subversion

( Nagyung Sohn ) 경남대학교 인문과학연구소 2022 人文論叢 Vol.57 No.-

This study investigates a thought experiment that reverses the dominant space exploration rhetoric of the 1960s in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966) by Robert A. Heinlein and Solaris (1961) by Stanisław H. Lem. These two works show us the 1960s’ space conquest rhetoric of the Cold War era and the opposite movement for liberty. I discuss how these two works reverse the dominant space frontier-ship, speculating a new world in which they are free from the authoritative atmosphere. In The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Moon Colony succeeds in getting liberated from the Earth’s federal nations, representing both of the space frontier-ship and its subversion. Stanisław Lem’s Solaris shows that space exploration is just geocentricism, a new version of colony expansion, and tries to find a new way of communication with the others.

V. S. 나이폴의『비스와스 씨를 위한 집』의 자아의 공간

손나경(Nagyung Sohn) 한국영미어문학회 2011 영미어문학 Vol.- No.98

This paper investigated the quest for the individuality in A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul. V. S. Naipaul was a Nobel laureate for literature in 2001, and has been recognized as an illustrious British novelist from Trinidad and Tobago, a former British colony. On the other hand, some post-colonialists including Edward Said have adversely criticized Naipaul's attitude on Colonialism. This is caused by Naipaul's cynical and pessimistic description of the post-colonial situations, which led to Said's assertion that Naipaul misses and advocates the former British rule. However, Naipaul's and Mr. Biswas's abhorrence toward Hindu groupism and the quest for their ego as writer and individual can also be interpreted as a way to understand the colonial situation that they experienced personally. Mr. Biswas was a descendant of the Indian immigrants hired by the indentured labor system under British colonial rule. He and other Indians in Trinidad were in the state of 'exile'. They were rooted away from their homeland and thrown unwillingly into the new land. They tried to adhere to the communitycontrolled by traditional orthodox Hinduism to keep their old Hindu identity and to survive at a different and fast-changing society. At the same time, their groupism was helpful for them to face the hard reality under colonial rule and a drastic change from the feudalistic life into the capitalistic one. The Tulsis, the main source of Mr Biswas's agonies, is a symbol of this groupism, and his efforts to have his own house signify the quest for his ego, or individuality. The process of his quest goes through mimicry, self-awareness, and distortion or change of archetype.

다시쓰기로서의 번역 - Heart if Darkness 번역본 고찰

손나경(Nagyung Sohn) 한국영미어문학회 2008 영미어문학 Vol.- No.87

  This thesis is to investigate the four translated texts of Heart of Darkness in terms of Andre Lefevere"s system theory. System theory which started in 1970s on the basis of Russian Formalism regards literature as a subsystem constituting the upper system of culture. According to the system theory, literary system is not independent nor intrinsic, but is in the net of relations to other systems in culture. Translation as rewriting of literature is also in this system, manipulated and refracted by ideologies and historical backgrounds of the target culture.<BR>  The target text(the translated text) is not a copy or an incomplete imitation of the source text; instead, it rewrites(interprets) the source text in order to make itself accepted in the target system. This phenomenon is represented through comparison among the four translated texts of Heart of Darkness. While these texts were translated from the same source text, there are a lot of differences in their titles, styles, tenor, interpretations, and so on. This shows that each of translators has his or her own respective viewpoint to interpret the source text when he or she translated it in different times of 1950s, 1980s and 2000s. Translation is not done in a vacuum, but it is variated to the changes in target society and by the translator"s different interpretations, which means that the target text itself has its own originality apart from its source text.

From Abject to Subject: the Post-human in Science Fiction

( Sohn Nagyung ) 한국현대영어영문학회 2018 현대영어영문학 Vol.62 No.4

This study investigates post-human creations in three novels from the viewpoint of Julia Kristeva’s “abject.” In her book, Powers of Horror, Julia Kristeva defines abject as “Neither subject nor object.” Abject is the thing that used to belong to subject, but which is now deserted and detached from it; it now provokes abhorrence, threat, and a sense of prohibition. The monster of Frankenstein (1818), animal humans of The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), and human clones of Never Let Me Go (2005) are abject because they are made of human parts left behind or deserted. As they should be obscure and marginal as abject, they are not permitted to have names. They are the uncanny existence, detached from the boundary of subject, like corpses. However, over the course of 200 years of science fiction, there is a growing subjectivity within these abject existences, which must be related to the changing perspectives toward post-humans. (Keimyung University)

과학적 진보와 문학의 과학적 상상력 사이의 대화: 『프랑켄슈타인』, 『모로 박사의 섬』, 『나를 보내지 마』를 대상으로

손나경(Nagyung Sohn) 한국영미어문학회 2017 영미어문학 Vol.- No.125

This Study investigates the scientific imagination of human creation in Frankenstein, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and Never Let Me Go. Britain is a nation where biotechnology has developed, and it is also a country that has produced famous novels with the theme of human creation. The purpose of this study is to diachronically investigate how human creation is imagined in the these novels, which were published in England at intervals of about 100 years from one another; and about how each of them is related to these scientific ideas. To investigate this, this study compared these three novels in relation to two aspects: the method of human creation and how to define created humans (post-humans). Firstly, In the method of human creation, vivisection was the way of human creation in the Island of Dr. Moreau and Frankenstein. However, Frankenstein saw the source of life as electricity while Dr. Moreau saw it possible through artificial evolution. On the other hand, cloning is the way of human creation in Never Let Me Go, which seems to be informed by the development of cloning technology in the early 21 st century. Secondly, this paper argues that to define created humans is related to the fear of human creators toward their creature. In Frankenstein and in The Island of Dr Moreau, the defining act is described as a fear about a third creature, while in Never Let Me Go, it is the possibility that they could be real humans.

V. S. 나이폴의 『비스와스 씨를 위한 집』과 『흉내 내는 사람들』에서 나타난 "글쓰기" 행위

손나경(Nagyung Sohn) 한국영미어문학회 2014 영미어문학 Vol.- No.112

This study is to investigate the act of writing in A House for Mr. Biswas and The Mimic Men. These autobiographical novels are inter- textured each other especially in three main characters' colonial and post- colonial experiences and their diasporic histories. Mr. Biswas, an illiterate tenant's son, works in different kinds of writing acts from sign paintings to literary ones; all of his writings are a way to overcome his fear of falling into the void, whereas they are records of his frustration at expressing reality under the colonial regime as well. The only moment he feels satisfaction with his writings is when using humorous satire on the absurd realities in Hindi groupism and British colonialism. Anand, Mr. Biswas's son, and Ralph Singh share imbricated similarities in their family relations and school lives, which can be considered the different personas of one person. Besides, the two characters are aware of their marginality and pursue the centrality of the British. Anand's writing reveals the sprout of self- awareness while that of Singh is a medium to diagnose his past and present, and seek self-knowledge. He contends that his writing is to present order to the disordered situation like his surroundings. Through the process of writing he defines himself and the post- colonial society as mimic men.

과학소설(SF) 대상 학습자 참여형 교양교육 교과목의 설계와 검토

손나경(Nagyung Sohn),김령희(Younghee Kim) 학습자중심교과교육학회 2020 학습자중심교과교육연구 Vol.20 No.12

본 연구는 계명대학교 교양교과목 “과학소설(SF)로 떠나는 상상여행”이 강좌의 3가지 목표를 성취함에 있어서 학습자들의 적극적인 수업 참여와 상호소통을 유도하는 수업이 될 수 있도록 수업을 어떻게 구조화하였는지를 다룬다. “과학소설로 떠나는 상상여행”은 계명대학교 인문대학에서 코어 사업의 일환으로 개설된 교양이며 동시에 대규모 강좌라는 점에서 학생들의 적극적인 수업참여 유도를 위해 다각적인 접근법이 필요하였다. 본 연구에서는 2018년-19년까지 3학기 동안의 수업진행을 대상으로 하여 본 강좌의 16주간의 수업진행이 강좌의 목표에 부합하는 결과를 내기 위해 학습자들이 교육의 단순 수혜자에서 벗어나 적극적인 생산자로 참여할 수 있도록 토론, 레포트, 시험 등을 어떻게 구성하였는지를 다루었다. 마지막으로 본 수업에 대한 자체 평가와 함께 추후 어떤 점을 보완해야 할 것인가에 대해 살펴보기 위하여, 수업에 대한 학생들의 평가와 교육적 효과에 대한 반응을 알아보았다. 이를 통해 학생들이 본 강좌에 대한 만족도나 수업참여도는 높았으나 수업활동의 빈도나 강도에 대해 힘들어하고 있다는 것을 알게 되었다. 또한 이러한 결과는 본 강좌의 향후의 방향성과 추후 지속적인 연구에 대한 필요성에 대해 생각하게 했다. This study focuses on the structuralization of “The Imaginary Journey to Science Fiction,” a liberal arts course of Keimyung University, to encourage learners to actively participate in class and communicate with one another in achieving the three goals of the course. “The Imaginary Journey to Science Fiction” is a massive scale course, established as part of CORE of Humanities and International Studies College of Keimyung University, which makes it need diverse approaches of inducing students to actively participate in its classes and activities. This study deals with how to organize discussions, presentations, quizzes and tests, and assignments to help students be active participants, not as simple recipients of information. This also deals with the students’ responses to the class activities in order to make self-assessment on teaching methods and educational effects. Students’ estimation of this course has been far higher than that of the other liberal arts courses of Keimyung University. Still, they also express difficulties in completing all the class activities. From the result of the students’ estimation, we’ve come to realize we need further checks on this course and its modification.

시각매체와 소설읽기를 통한 교양교육: 『로빈슨 크루소』 읽고 보기

손나경(Sohn, Nagyung) 학습자중심교과교육학회 2018 학습자중심교과교육연구 Vol.18 No.15

소설 『로빈슨 크루소』는 영국은 물론 세계적으로 널리 알려진 모험문학이며, 서구 근대 사회의 발전 위에서 소설이라는 새로운 양식을 선보인 텍스트이다. 균형교양 <비주얼 미디어를 통해 본 영미문학> 과목은 소설 『로빈슨 크루소』와 시각 매체화된 <로빈슨 크루소>를 교육 자료로 병행하는 시도를 하였다. 시각매체를 사용 함으로써 본 교양과목은 영문학을 전공하지 않은 학생들이 쉽게 원전에 접근하게 하였고, 원전이 시대적으로 어떻게 의미를 확장하고 있는지를 살펴보았다. 또한 평소 영미문학과 서양근대사에 대해 배울 기회가 없었던 일반 교양과목 수강생들이 근대 철학적 입장에서 소설 양식의 출현을 배우는 과정을 통하여 서구 문화의 역사과정을 접할 수 있었다. 학생들은 소설과 영화를 통해 로빈슨 크루소와 프라이데이의 관계 설정의 차이를 살펴보며 18세기 서구의 제국주의적 시각과 20세기의 문화상대주의적 입장의 차이를 비교하기도 하였다. 이런 활동은 학생들에게 “나”에 대한 인식에서 “세계사회의 구성원인 나”에 대한 인식까지 경험하게 하였고, 글로벌 시민의식에서 필요한 타인에 대한 존중을 생각하는 기회를 만들어 주었다. Robinson Crusoe is historically important as it is generally considered to be one of the first novels in the British literature, as well as being an adventure literature that is known throughout the world. The course “Learning the English and American Literature through Visual Media” focused on both the novel and its visualized version. The use of visual media helped us see how the novel has been interpreted in different ways at different times in history. In addition, looking into Robinson Crusoe from different viewpoints helped the students who did not major in Humanities to gain a better understanding of modern Western history and the birth of the novel. By comparing the relationship between Robinson Crusoe and Friday in the novel and in the movie, students were able to understand the 18 th century Western imperialist view of other peoples and how it differed from modern cultural relativism. This meant that they could experience the perception of I as member of the world society and the importance of respecting their fellow global citizens.