이 연구는 마르틴 부버의 대화철학에 비추어 이시구로 가즈오의 『나를 보내지 마』를 다시 읽고, 소설에 대한 새로운 해석을 시도하는 것을 그 목적으로 한다. 부버에 따르면 이 세상의 진정한 삶은 ‘은혜’에 의하여 가능하게 되는 만남이며, 그 만남은 ‘영원한 너’이신 하나님과의 만남으로 이어진다. 부버에게 예술은 단순히 예술가 자신의 사고와 행동의 결과물이 아니라 예술가와 대상 사이의 ‘온 존재를 기울인’ 만남이다. 이와 같은 그의 철학에 비추어 문학작품을 해석하려면 새롭고 다른 접근이 필요하다. 즉, 실증주의나 형식주의 또는 사회역사적 비평과 같은 ‘나―그것’의 태도로 텍스트를 접하는 대신, 부버를 따라 ‘나―너’의 태도로 텍스트에 귀를 기울이고, 독서 과정을 통해 ‘영원한 너’의 목소리를 듣는 것이 요구된다. 성경의 진실에 반하여 인간 중심의 과학과 기술, 문학적 경향 및 철학이 우세한 것처럼 보이는 시대에 다양한 성찰을 열어주는 이시구로의 소설 『나를 보내지 마』는 ‘너’로서의 텍스트 해석의 적절한 대상으로 여겨진다. 그 이유는 인간의 희로애락을 경험하다가 신체의 장기를 기증한 후 그들의 삶을 마감하는 복제인간 친구들의 삶을 기억하고 애도하는 복제인간 화자의 내러티브와의 대화를 통해 독자는 인간의 죄를 구속하기 위해 치명적인 고난을 견디신 그리스도 예수님의 이미지를 읽어내고, 더 나아가 이 세상에 존재하는 수많은 타자들의 소리 없는 외침에 귀 기울일 수 있을 것이기 때문이다.
This study aims to reread Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro in light of Martin Buber’s philosophy of dialogue, and try a new interpretation of the novel. According to Buber, the true life of this world is an encounter enabled by “grace,” and that encounter leads to a meeting with God, who is “eternal You.” For Buber, art is not merely the result of an artist’s own thinking and experience, but of the meeting between an artist and the object, “with his or her whole existence.” The interpretation of a literary work from the perspective of Buber’s philosophy requires a new and different approach. That is, instead of the positivist, formal, or socio-historical critiques of the work, which are based on the “I—It” attitude toward the text, Buber’s interpretation requires the “I—You” attitude to listen to the text and hear the voice of “eternal You” through the reading process. In an era when human-centered science, technology, literary trends, and philosophy seem to prevail over the truth of the Bible, Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go, which opens up various reflections through the story of “a clone,” might be an appropriate target for text interpretation as “thou.” It is because the dialogue with the narratives of a clone speaker, who remembers and mourns the lives of her clone friends growing up to experience human joys and sorrows and completing their lives after their organ donation, reminds a reader of the image of Christ Jesus, who endured deadly sufferings to redeem the sin of human, and further, enables the reader to heed the silent outcry of the implied other in the world.
This study aims to reread Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro in light of Martin Buber’s philosophy of dialogue, and try a new interpretation of the novel. According to Buber, the true life of this world is an encounter enabled by “grace,” and that encounter leads to a meeting with God, who is “eternal You.” For Buber, art is not merely the result of an artist’s own thinking and experience, but of the meeting between an artist and the object, “with his or her whole existence.” The interpretation of a literary work from the perspective of Buber’s philosophy requires a new and different approach. That is, instead of the positivist, formal, or socio-historical critiques of the work, which are based on the “I—It” attitude toward the text, Buber’s interpretation requires the “I—You” attitude to listen to the text and hear the voice of “eternal You” through the reading process. In an era when human-centered science, technology, literary trends, and philosophy seem to prevail over the truth of the Bible, Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go, which opens up various reflections through the story of “a clone,” might be an appropriate target for text interpretation as “thou.” It is because the dialogue with the narratives of a clone speaker, who remembers and mourns the lives of her clone friends growing up to experience human joys and sorrows and completing their lives after their organ donation, reminds a reader of the image of Christ Jesus, who endured deadly sufferings to redeem the sin of human, and further, enables the reader to heed the silent outcry of the implied other in the world.
