Institute for

Gender and Affect Studies

성과

고전서사 연구에서 연결성에 대한 논의의 현단계 ― 고전소설의 디지털 인문학적 연구 사례 검토를 중심으로 (김나영)

젠더어펙트연구소
2020-11-11
조회수 372


4차 산업혁명에 따른 빅 데이터, 인공지능, 사물인터넷의 개념이 인문학의 영역에까지 영향을 미쳐 변화를 촉구하는 이때, 고전소설 연구와 연구자는 어떤 자세로 이에 대응해야 할까. 본글은 이 물음을 전제로, 디지털 인문학적 연구 방법을 적용하여 고전소설을 분석한 논문을 구체적으로 검토하였다. 그동안 축적되어 온 전통적 연구 방법에 의한 고전소설 분석 결과와 비교해봄으로써 데이터를 바탕으로 한 계량적 작품 분석의 가능성과 한계를 점검하여 그 해답의 실마리를 찾고자 하였다. 여기에는 현재와 미래, 고전소설 연구 방법과 연구자적 자세에 대한 시대적 연결성과 정동적 실천에 대한 고민이 담겨있다. 고전소설 <소현성록>을 대상으로 어휘와 문장의 빅 데이터화와 디지털 툴을 적용한 논문 4편을 검토하였다. 그동안 일부 문학 연구자들에 의해 진행된 고전소설의 새로운 연구 방법의 가능성을 보다 구체적으로 공유할 필요가 있다고 판단했기 때문이다. 전통적 문학 연구 방법에 익숙해지다 보면 새로운 변화의 흐름에서 스스로를 소외시키거나 배타적 태도를 취할 수 있다는 점을 인정하고 보다 생산적이고 긍정적인 연구자의 인식과 태도가 요구되는 시점임을 강조하고자 하였다. 학문 연구의 흐름도 상대적이고 유동적이다. 멈추지 않고 변화하며 이전과 이후의 관계 속에서 새로운 방법이 적용되고 의미를 도출해낸다. 때문에 빅 데이터, 인공지능, 디지털 등의 개념이 강조되고 중요하게 여겨질수록 그것이 감당하지 못하는 지점이 부각되는 것은 필연적이며, 인간의 신체적 능력을 바탕으로 한 전통적 인문학적 통찰의 필요성 또한 보다 절실히 요청되는 것은 당연한 결과이기도 하다. 여기에 현재와 미래의 고전소설 연구의 향방이 자리하고 있다.


This paper seeks ways to respond to the new movements in the methods of study of classical narratives, especially classical novels, and to reestablish the identity of a classical literature researcher as a humanities scholar. It is no exaggeration to say that new approaches to classical literature studies have continuously been sought since the late 1990s and 2000s. This author remembers that in the late 20th century, the commercialization of computers and the revolution of knowledge and information based on the Internet prompted discourse on the “crisis of the humanities.” This perception of crisis influenced and led classical literary circles to contemplate a survival strategy not only for classical literature itself but for its researchers. However, while a clear answer has yet to be found, today is a time when even the usefulness of the humanities as science, unable to keep up with the pace of technological change, is questioned. At this moment when the Fourth Industrial Revolution concepts of big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things influence even the realm of humanities and call for change, how should research and researchers of classical novels and literature respond? With this question as a premise, this paper attempts to assess the interconnection of classical narrative studies by comparing and examining the results of two studies—traditional text research and digital technology-using research—on the classical novel, The Record of So Hyeon-seong. The Record of So Hyeon-seong was written as part of the series along with The Story of the Three Generations of the So Family and heralded the beginning of full-length novels in Korea. Since many of its characters intertwine over three generations (centering on the figure of So Hyeon-seong) to develop the narrative, the book is also called a full-length novel on the record of three generations. It is also a work on which discussions from a variety of perspectives have accumulated since 1992. Of these discussions, the findings of a study using the computerized digital method between 2018 and 2019 is drawing attention. That joint study is being carried out by Gang Woo-gyu and Kim Ba-ro, who have conducted their research so far in two ways. One is a bibliographic study that compares the styles of the novel’s different versions and quantifies and visualizes the relationship of those versions to each other, in terms of impact, through quantitative analysis. The other is a narrative study that focuses on character emotions and interprets their narrative meanings by quantifying and visualizing the aspect and frequency of the appearance of those emotions. Gang and Kim’s study has great significance for the literature research methods in the big data and digital era. First, it tells the importance of converting the text of classical novels into big data and constructing electronic document archives. In other words, Gang and Kim’s findings were made possible by the use of big data collected from the text of The Record of So Hyeon-seong and digital tools as well. This is closely related to the change in computerized knowledge structuralizing method in modern society, and furthermore, stimulates the critical mind for retaining data sovereignty on our cultural heritage. Second, although digital humanities research on classical novels is an urgent and important issue, it reaffirms that there is a narrative context of fiction that cannot be explained or analyzed by quantified numbers. In other words, it reaffirms that human intuition and insight can explain a world that cannot be analyzed and depicted by advanced technologies and methods (because the world of human life, the basis of fiction, is not that simple and uniform). The trend of academic research is relative and flexible. It ceaselessly changes and derives new meanings from relationships past and future. Therefore, the more the concepts of big data, artificial intelligence, and digital technology are emphasized and considered important, the points that those technologies cannot handle are inevitably highlighted, and it is a natural result that the necessity of traditional insights in the humanities based on human physical ability is more urgently required than ever. This will determine the direction of current studies on classical narratives and classical novels.



디지털 인문학, 빅 데이터, 고전소설 연구 방법, 소현성록, 연결성, 정동적 실천

affect, connectivity, big date, artificial intelligence, digital humanities, classical novel, So Hyeon-seong nok Series



<논문 전문 보기>

https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002616528




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