행동의 끝과 말씀의 시작 : 베오울프>에 나타난 문명비판의 이념과 담론

Abstract

Beowulf is the oldest of the great long poems written in English. Thus, English literature virtually begins with Beowulf. What is intriguing about this oldest English poem, however, is not its historical importance; rather, how it fares in the midst of changing critical perspectives is the focus of this paper. In this respect, the way the dominant ideology and its operative discourse are inscribed in this text draws our attention. When we consider the fact that the basic material of Beowulf is pagan and the audience of this poem are Christians, the importance of the dominant ideology of Christianity in operation in this poem vis-á-vis paganism of the hero looms large as an important issue of critical interpretation. In this context, we also have to take into consideration how delicately and skillfully the poet negotiates the treacherous terrain. It is immediately apparent how superbly the Beowulf poet balances the two contradictory ideologies: paganism of the hero and Christianity of the audience. The means of achieving this balancing act is what we might term the appositive word. In the appositive word are layered the original meaning of Anglo-Saxon etymology and the adopted meaning of Christianity. The Anglo-Saxon word metod, for instance, means creator to the pagans without any Christian implication. The same word means the Christian Creator to the Christian audience of the poem. By employing the apposed words in this manner, the Beowulf poet creatively filters the pagan elements through the Christian perspective. In other words, Beowulf is read differently by pagans and Christians at the same time. Why Beowulf is still intriguing in the latter part of the twentieth century is that it shows how the dominant ideology imposes its mind-set on the text of the poem through its discourse.