복종에서 전복으로: 반/교양소설로서 하진의 『광인』 읽기

초록

This article examines Ha Jin’s The Crazed through the lens of the Bildungsroman tradition, specifically analyzing its deviation into an “anti-Bildungsroman.” The novel charts the transformation of the protagonist and narrator, Jian Wan, from a naive and submissive youth into a self-determined and independent individual. While The Crazed initially aligns with the classical European tradition of the Bildungsroman—depicting a youth’s passage into adulthood through disillusionment and psychological growth—it ultimately subverts the genre’s convention of social reintegration. This paper argues that Jian’s maturation leads not to a reconciliation with society, but to a necessary alienation from it. By analyzing Jian’s shifting relationships with his mentor, Professor Yang, and his fiancée, Meimei, the study explores how he severs dependent ties to establish a sovereign self. Furthermore, drawing on Mircea Eliade’s structure of initiation rites, this paper investigates Jian’s “ordeals, death, and rebirth” during the Tiananmen Square protests as the primary catalysts for his political awakening. Ultimately, the paper situates The Crazed as an ‘anti-Bildungsroman’ that reflects the contemporary ethnic and diasporic experiences.

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