This paper was intended to investigate the characteristics of fantasy that served as the core creative method in the works of Choi In-hoon. For that, the preceding consieration was made of the circumstances of the 1960s and Choi's perceptional attitu...
This paper was intended to investigate the characteristics of fantasy that served as the core creative method in the works of Choi In-hoon. For that, the preceding consieration was made of the circumstances of the 1960s and Choi's perceptional attitudes toward them. One word that would be sufficient to describe his perceptions of the world is `irregularities,' to which he responded with criticism of the reality. This explains the three types of subjects in his works; the one fighting against the irregular world and wandering in the process, the one making constant resistance, and the one showing the will to overcome. It was uncoverd that Choi combined these types of subjects with fantasy to give concreteness to them, thus being responsible for a part of the novel history and its characteristics in the 1960s.
The most popular struㅊtures in his fantasy narratives include the modern version of romance structure, the overlapping of mirror texts reflecting the self, and the expansion of the narrative through parodies. The techniques adopted by him to tell fantasy narratives are essays, the stream of consciousness, and humorous style. In short, Choi's perceptional attitudes toward the world affected the formats and techniques of his works.
The fantasy narratives by Choi left their marked traces in the Korean history of novels in three ways; First, he accepted and succeeded the techniques found in classical literature with a modern touch. His fantasy restored the area of fantasy that had been left empty in Korea's modern novels. Second, his fantasy narratives diversified the aspects of modernistic novels in the 1960s. He distinguished himself from his contemporary authors who attempts to write in the modernistic way such as Kim Seung-wook, Lee Cheong-jun ane Seo Jeong-in with his unique creative method. Third, he assured them that it was fantasy that was the essential principle of any literary creation.
Choi In-Hoon's fantastic description has a literary meaning in follow aspects. Firstly, his fantastic description solidified literary world which shows the will of self-examination. It means to show a distinction from postwar novel with the features of nihilism and sentimentalism in the 1950's and to show overcoming will in the actuality filled with inconsistency. Secondly, the fantastic was returned to modern society through his description. The piecemeal fantastic, which was found from new-style novels and colonial area, was still more developed through Choi In-Hoon's works. As a result, fantasy literature was expanded. Thirdly, Choi In-Hoon's literature succeeded genealogy of modernism novel appeared in the 1930's and the 1950's while it enabled the aspect of modernism novel to be various. The fantastic found from his works had dealt deeply with the inner inquiry of the subject, so the aesthetic effect of novel which it was difficult to achieve by the technique of realism was achieved.