속박된 여성으로부터 벗어나기: 『평생 족쇄에 채워져』를 중심으로

손정희 ( Jeonghee Sohn ) 한국근대영미소설학회 2016 근대 영미소설 Vol.23 No.3

This paper examines how Lillie Devereux Blake, 19th-Century American activist and writer, attempts to deconstruct the constructed images of womanhood of her day in Fettered for Life (1874). Paralleling woman`s oppressed status to the “fettered” state of slaves, Blake explores woman`s possibility for freeing herself from the bondage of womanhood. Blake depicts a panoramic version of women`s “fettered” lives across class differences. Blake shows how women are subject to a constructed image of womanhood in the lives of Flora Livingston and Henrietta Winthrop, among others, who lead a socially-prescribed woman`s life. In contrast to these cases, Blake presents an alternative image of womanhood by creating Laura Stanley, who endeavors to make her own living and to make her voice heard. In addition, Blake makes a trenchant critique of stereotyped images of womanhood by creating Frank Heywood, who strategically crossdresses and works as a journalist in the public sphere, and Cornelia D`Arcy, who chooses to be a female doctor and an active participant in the women`s rights movement. Despite the ambiguous ending of Laura`s impending marriage and the unavoidable limitations of Frank`s crossdressing, Blake advocates the need for feminist activism and women`s suffrage in Fettered for Life, by presenting a multi-faceted view of the woman question, and making a strong case for ways to reform the status quo.

이디스 워튼의 『반마취 상태』에 나타난 과잉활동의 치유 가능성

손정희(Sohn, Jeonghee),이현주(Lee, Hyun-Ju) 한국외국어대학교 영미연구소 2013 영미연구 Vol.29 No.-

The 1920s in America was swayed by materialistic consumerism and swift scientific developments. People tended to focus on external activities which were not accompanied by internal spiritual values. In Edith Wharton's Twilight Sleep, Pauline Manford spends her time in doing numerous daily activities which do not deliver mental satisfaction and stability between family members. This paper examines whether Pauline's strenuous efforts to manage her life by filling daily life with hyperactivities can be interpreted as a therapeutic attempt to cope with the painful reality of modern life. On the one hand, Pauline's lifestyle filled with excessive activities is a mere pursuit of oblivion and escape isolated from reality, which is similar to a state under the influence of anesthetic 'twilight sleep'. On the other hand, however, her unceasing efforts to lead a busy life doing various activities may be seen as an attempt to heal pain and resolve discord. Individuals are inevitably subject to dominant social ideologies, but they can also voluntarily endeavor to transcend the subjected position. In the last chapter, family members are scattered all over abroad. This ending may not necessarily emphasize the subjected position of characters who cannot escape from reality. Rather, it may show that the characters attempt to go beyond the limited position to explore a possibility for healing themselves.

미덕 갖춘 시민과 계급

손정희(Jeonghee Sohn) 19세기영어권문학회 2010 19세기 영어권 문학 Vol.14 No.2

Poverty and class division were a big national concern in America in the 1830s. The ideologically constructed ideas of equality and individual liberty were not necessarily supported by social realities. This paper examines how Sedgwick deals with the issue of how to resolve the problems of poverty and class differences in The Poor Rich Man and The Rich Poor Man (1836). Questioning the secular conception of the rich and the poor, Sedgwick proposes that the dispossessed are often better qualified to be a citizen if they educate themselves to develop virtues useful for building a virtuous Republic. Harry Aikin, ‘the rich poor man,’ grows to be a self-reliant man who builds the future on his own abilities and resources, while Morris Finley, ‘the poor rich man,’ inherits riches but cannot prove his own virtues to preserve or enhance them. Charlotte and Susan May are described as typical women paragons who value the Christian principles of content and virtues of poverty. By showing how poor people are more eligible for the positive future of the nation, Sedgwick holds that money should not be the barometer which determines who should be included as a virtuous citizen of the nation. As such, Sedgwick delivers a didactic message, upholding Christian idealistic solution to class differences for the sake of founding a unified American nation. Sedgwick reduces the problem of poverty to that of an individual, and proposes a spiritual solution which an individual can adopt by idealizing the state of poverty and emphasizing more riches in virtues. Accepting the status quo of the social system, Sedgwick's attitude, finally, boils down to lukewarm conservatism in reforming the negative effects of class differences and poverty.

<천국에서 한 걸음>에 나타난 자아상의 치유 문제에 대하여

손정희(Sohn, Jeonghee),이형민(Lee, Hyoung-min) 순천향대학교 인문학연구소 2015 순천향 인문과학논총 Vol.34 No.4

This paper examines An Na’s A Step from Heaven, which centers on the growth of the narrator-protagonist Young Ju who immigrates from Korea to the United States as a young girl. This novel, while highly acclaimed, has not yet been widely analyzed. This paper argues that readers could gain access to meaningful layers of the novel by focusing on the motif of healing. As the structure and effects of memory have taken a significant role in the writing of this novel, tracking Young Ju’s memory is a key to understanding the text. This paper focuses on the process of changes in Young Ju’s memory of Apa and its healing effects on her self-image. Also, this paper analyzes Apa’s character in terms of his changing self-image. While there are studies that explain intensified violence of Apa as a result of immigration and his failure to adjust, this paper attempts to examine the character of Apa focusing more on his inner psychology than external changes. This paper ultimately aims to reveal the powerful theme of healing represented in the novel and its possible effects on the reader. 한국계 미국인 작가 안나(An Na)의 대표작 <천국에서 한 걸음>(A Step from Heaven)은 어린 나이에 미국으로 이민을 가는 주인공의 성장 과정을 그린 소설이다. 이 작품은 흔히 다문화주의 청소년 소설로 분류되어 연구되어 왔다. 그러나 이 작품은 보다 다양한 관점에서 폭넓게 읽어낼 수 있는 의미가 풍부한 텍스트인만큼, 본 논문은 치유의 관점에서 이 작품을 해석하고자 한다. 먼저 <천국에서한 걸음>의 집필에 기억의 구조와 역할이 중요하게 활용되었다는 점에 착안하여, 소설의 화자 영주에게 있어서 아빠에 대한 기억의 변화가 자아상에 미친 치유적의미를 살펴본다. 화자의 아빠에 대한 기억의 재구성은 긍정적인 자아상의 재정립이라는 측면에서 이해될 때 그 의미가 잘 드러나게 된다. 또한 자아상의 문제와 심리적 요인에 초점을 맞추어 아빠 캐릭터의 이해를 시도한다. 이러한 해석을 통해서 작품이 보여주는 치유의 성공과 실패 양상을 드러내고, 독자가 얻을 수 있는 치유의 가능성을 모색한다.

엘리스 제임스와 ‘치유적 일’로서의 일기 쓰기

손정희(Jeonghee Sohn) 한국아메리카학회 2022 美國學論集 Vol.54 No.1

This paper examines how Alice James’s diary writing served as a kind of ‘therapeutic work’ for her, by emphasizing how the genre of a diary is both private and public. For one thing, The Diary is a vivid record of most trenchant issues of her own illnesses. Struggling against a variety of ways in which she had been defined as an invalid diagnosed with many different names of illnesses, writing a diary served as a therapeutic tool to Alice for dealing with her bodily pain and emotional issues. In this vein, Alice’s diary functioned in the way journal therapy is helpful for healing and growth. Furthermore, her personal issues of being an invalid resonate with how women were defined as being ‘invalid’ in her day. In addition, she tried to deal with various topical issues, by incorporating abundant sources of public documents into her diary. Consequently, Alice’s diary served as a kind of therapeutic work to address both her private issues and public affairs of her day.

길먼의 일기에 나타난 사적/공적 서사: 일과 자립 추구 및 병증 대처를 중심으로

손정희(Jeonghee Sohn) 19세기영어권문학회 2022 19세기 영어권 문학 Vol.26 No.1

Charlotte Perkins Gilman started writing a diary when she was 15 in 1875, and continued the practice for about 28 years with only sporadic breaks in between until she intentionally stopped at the age of 43 in 1903. Given that her overall writing mainly focused on public issues involving the status of women in her day, Gilman’s diary is worth noting as an important document that reveals more personal aspects about her. Considering recent discussions on diary writing, however, a diary is not just a private record of daily events, but often serves as a medium for dealing with public issues of the day. In this vein, this paper examines Gilman’s diary as a private/public narrative by which she tried to pursue work and economic independence and to cope with invalidism. Certainly, her diary is mainly composed of records of her daily occurrences and personal thoughts, but it also shows how she struggled with issues of women’s status imposed by society. As a result, this paper argues that her personal issues of struggling with her invalidism and making strenuous efforts to be economically independent by being a woman writer resonate with public issues that women in general had to deal with in her day.

『그 지방의 관습』에 나타나는 언딘 스프라그의 욕망의 실체

손정희(Sohn, Jeonghee),손무연(Son, Muyeon) 계명대학교 여성학연구소 2018 젠더와 문화 Vol.11 No.1

이 논문은 이디스 워튼의 작품 『그 지방의 관습』에 나타나는 언딘 스프라그의 끝없는 욕망을 자크 라캉의 욕망 개념으로 살펴보는 것을 목적으로 한다. 작품의 배경이 되는 세기 전환기 미국은 급격한 경제성장이 일어났던 시기로 남성들에게는 부의 축적과 신분상승의 기회를 가져다주었지만, 가부장적인 사회에서 가정 안의 여성들은 과시적인 소비의 주체로만 남아있게 했다. 자본주의 사회가 불러온 과시적인 소비는 결혼관습에도 많은 영향을 미치게 되었으며 언딘에게 결혼은 비즈니스로 간주되어 자신의 욕망을 채우는 도구로 전락한다. 반복되는 결혼에서 언딘이 남편을 고르는 행위는 자본주의 사회가 만들어 낸 소비욕망을 닮아있으며 그녀의 욕망은 라캉이 말한 결코 충족될 수 없는 타자의 욕망을 욕망하는 것으로 볼 수 있다. 워튼은 이 작품에서 남성위주의 사회에서 여성들이 삶을 향상시키기 위해서는 결혼이 유일한 선택이 될 수밖에 없었음을 재현함으로써 당시의 젠더 인식을 비판하고 있다. This paper aims to examine the seemingly endless desire of Undine Spragg in Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country, from the perspective of Jacques Lacan’s concept of ‘Desire of the Other.’ At the turn of the century in America, rapid economic growth provided men with the opportunities to accumulate wealth and climb up the social ladder. However, women could not but remain as the subject of conspicuous consumption. This conspicuous consumption also influenced the custom of marriage. Undine Spragg considered marriage as a kind of business transaction. In her repeated pattern of marriages, the way she chose her husbands is equal to consumer desire in a capitalist society. Her desire can be seen as the desire of the Other as Lacan states. Accordingly, Undine’s desire can never be satisfied. In this way, Wharton criticizes contemporary gender awareness by demonstrating that women were only given the choice of the marriage to improve their lives in a male-dominated society.

헤일의 『여성강연가』에 나타난 역설과 문화적 의미

손정희 ( Jeonghee Sohn ) 영미문학연구회 2018 영미문학연구 Vol.35 No.-

Contrary to the long-held conceptualization of woman’s sphere as a domestic space in nineteenth-century America, it is noticeable that there were a number of female orators who spoke in public on various topical issues. The figure of a woman orator in the public sphere clearly embodies a paradox which cannot be advocated by the theory of separate spheres. This paper aims to examine this paradox embedded in the figure of a woman orator and its cultural significances by reading Sarah Josepha Hale’s The Lecturess, or, Woman’s Sphere (1839). This novel deals with the life of Marian Gayland, a woman speaker in public, who strongly supports the ideas of woman’s rights and abolition. However, she forgoes her career as a woman orator when she succumbs to marry William Forrester who never appreciates Marian’s causes or her performance as woman orator. More shockingly, the novel ends with a tragic death of Marian who regretfully recants her former positioning at her deathbed. It seems that this cautionary tale shows Hale’s conservative view in regard to gender norms of her day. However, Hale, a long-time editor of Godey’s Lady’s Magazine, has been mistakenly argued to be a conservative supporter of the conventional role of womanhood of her day. On the contrary, her writing and career often prove to be far from adherent to rigid cultural norms. In the same vein, the ending of The Lecturess does not merely an evident return to “moral slavery” but a necessary step in the gradual move toward the flowering of woman’s oratory later on. The novel, then, presents Hale’s strategic effort to hide her subversive message in a tale of defeat.

세즈윅의 『공존하며 살아가기』에 나타난 효율적 가정운용의 이론과 실제

손정희 ( Jeonghee Sohn ) 미국소설학회(구 한국호손학회) 2017 미국소설 Vol.24 No.3

In nineteenth-century America, home was woman’s sphere, and woman’s job was to operate efficient domestic economy in a perfectly organized setting of family. Most importantly, an efficient operation of the home serving all family members was essential not only for an individual family, but also for the nation itself. Efficient domestic economy is conceptualized as a cornerstone for building a virtuous nation in theory. In practice, however, the differences in class and/or race were disregarded in this concept of an efficient domestic economy, but only with overcharged conflicts and discontents. It is notable that the dominant conception of woman’s efficient management of home in effect largely depended on the indispensable help of servants. This paper examines how Sedgwick deals with the so-called “servant question,” a highly debated issue in her day of America in Live and Let Live, as is pointed out in its subtitle, “domestic service illustrated.” This paper focuses on the story of Lucy Lee who becomes a mistress of her own home after going through the process of being educated to provide efficient domestic service. Lucy’s success story is possible due to the process of proper education given by eligible mistresses who consider training servants into well-performing ones as one of their most crucial duties. However, this success story of Lucy does not necessarily propose a solution to the servant question, rather discloses a problematic situation. Considering the fact that this group of servants was composed of poor people and African-American people as well as immigrants, mostly Irish, the factors of class and race are variables to be seriously noted in considering the servant question. Arguably, then, Live and Let Live reaffirms that the conception of efficient domestic economy as healthy foundation of a nation was not so much practicable reality as idealized theory.

올컷의 저널쓰기 수행: 개인적 기록에서 여성 위상에 대한 공적 서사로

손정희 ( Jeonghee Sohn ) 미국소설학회(구 한국호손학회) 2020 미국소설 Vol.27 No.1

Louisa May Alcott wrote journals for most of her lifetime. However, her journals as are left now are the outcome of an intentional revision made by the author herself. It is generally argued that Alcott might have wanted to keep her public image in the best possible way. Therefore, this paper aims to read Alcott’s journals as a semi-public record, a kind of autobiography. In this regard, this paper examined her journals as a rich resource for examining the crucial issues Alcott had to deal with as a woman writer of nineteenth-century America. First, Alcott’s journals show her continuous efforts to establish economic independence. She struggled to take care of the economy of the family as a main financial supporter. Also, she recorded the difficulties and hard efforts of finding out the cures for her disease with which she had been afflicted since she volunteered to be a nurse in the Civil War. Lastly, she expresses her difficulty of being a woman writer in her day, juggling between duties of a public figure and desires of a private woman. Alcott’s issues with economic independence, invalidism, and the conflict between a private woman and a public writer represent woman’s status of nineteenth-century America. In this vein, then, Alcott’s lifetime practice of journaling can be argued as a personal record turned into a public narrative of woman’s status in the cultural context of her day.