‘존재의 용기’로서 정지용의 신학적 사유 고찰 ― 「슬픈偶像」과 「삽사리」, 「溫井」을 중심으로 = A Study of Theological Reasoning of Jeong Ji-yong as 'The Courage to Be'

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study is to find and value theological reasoning of Jiyong Jeong, which is shown in his later poetry by reinterpreting Seulpeun Usang (sad idol), Sapsari and Onjeong (Hot spring well). The main subject matter of these three poems is the relationship (love) between you and 'me'.
Seulpeun Usang (sad idol) furiously expresses internal conflict of the poet against the Absolute through the shape of the 'sleeping God' and the motive of unrest 'drifter' who wanders. Although it praises the God at a first glance, it contains a so-called theodicy question that is raised from fundamental skepticism about the faith. The poem expresses double-valued feeling (praise and sigh at the same time) toward the Absolute. In the process, faith and skepticism shows their contradictory co-existence as found in the Book of Job. This authentic feature of the poem inevitably leads thinking to the relationship between the God and the self. The poems in which Jeong's theological thinking is actively formed are Sapsari and Onjeong (Hot spring well).
The important element in 'Sapsari' is the relationship between 'Sapsari and you', which represents the relationship between 'you and me' in a different form. The relationship contains the poet's thinking about the courage to be that attempts to accept the distance with the Absolute as a part of faith. In the poem, faith is shown in the form of plain obedience 'in spite of' the circumstance that the God seems not to exist, rather than confidence of salvation by the God. The relationship between 'the God and the self' that started to be formed by such faith (attitude) is more clearly presented in 'Onjeong (Hot spring well)'. The poem indicates that the unreduceable distance between the God and the self does not conflict with 'co-existence'. Rather, it could be the base of 'co-existence'. It is in the moment of hardship, which could be experienced by 'absence of the God', that people realize the absolute faith. The real faith could be obtained when the distance between the God and the self is embraced as the nature of the mutual attractive relationship (love).