인문학적 심리부검으로서 청소년 문학에 나타난 자살 양상 비교

Abstract

Suicide is defined as “the intentional taking of one’s own life.” and “a voluntary act by which one causes one’s own death.” Adolescent suicide continues to be a serious problem in Korea. This paper aims to read Kim, Rye-Ryoung’s Elegant Lie, Richard Peck’s Remembering the Good Times, and Hermann Hesse’s Unterm Rad, three adolescent works that talk about suicide, in order to understand various characteristics related to adolescent suicide and to seek humanistic solutions. Therefore, the paper tries to analyze humanistic psychological aspects of adolescent suicide, dealing with novels that reflect this reality as well as passing over the empirical constraints on suicide. The three works in question show common characteristics in attitudes and circumstances toward suicide. These works thus act as a useful vehicle for the exploration of complex modes of adolescent suicide. In these three works, the suicidal characters reveal the psychological problems or which lead them to suicide and indicate they are planning to commit suicide. In particular, their sense of belonging is weakened because they do not have social support from those around them. By exploring the disturbing issue through the safe confines of adolescent novels, we are able to learn the reasons why adolescents commit suicide, the meaning of social support in triggering suicidal thoughts, and people’s role such as family, friends, and relatives to help prevent or avert the suicide. Consequently, this approach arouses concerns how these three works might help the adolescent reader to get insight into the complex nature of suicide.