환원 불가능한 관계로서 타자와의 대면: 『동물원 이야기』와 『임차인』비교 연구

Abstract

This paper explores the communication theme in The Zoo Story and A Tenant from Levinas’ ethics. The two plays address reflection on the absurd of modern society in which individuals lose their dignity and experience the disconnection of communication in the social system built by the ontological-centered society. I think Levinas’ ethics can be considered a critique which analyzes the theme of the two works. Levinas argues that the encounter of the Other through the face reveals a certain poverty which forbids a reduction to Sameness and, simultaneously, installs a responsibility for the Other in the Self. The crucial theme of his philosophy is the ethical language that presents itself in the ethical relationship with the Other. Based on Levinas’ philosophy, I argue that the two plays reflect on the absurdity of modern society in which individuals lose their dignity and experience the disconnection of communication in the society built by ontological-centered society.