KJCKorea
Journal Central

This paper is to investigate the concept of modernity through the analysis on autobiographicalwriting of Sin Gyeong Suk’s "An Isolated Room". "An Isolated Room" is a work asking the meaningof writing a novel through the author’s own story, and furthermore, it gets to build self identity byreproducing others through writing. First of all, in this work, there is 'I' who is a writer at thismoment being 32 years old. And in the past, there is also 'I' who is from 16 to 20 years old leavingthe Isolated Room for the memory of her sister Hee Jae. The death of the sister Hee Jae becomes herfear in having a relationship with others after that. Finally, 'I' tries to do present conversation withthe past in order not "to be imprisoned in the Isolated Room again", and it works as the writing of subject construction. The writing is now not the narcissistic subject alienated from the world butcontains reflective meaning to define the recognition and attitude on self in forming a relationshipwith others. Here, the desire of subject construction induces family intimacy that can be summed up as 'blood relative emotion' as a medium to overcome the ultimate sense of alienation lying betweenself and the world. Although such romantic attitude may seem to try a new prospect in the crackfrom the world in a sense, paradoxically, even the desire of subject establishment is seen to bemetaphorized as the form of deficiency or loss.

modernity, autobiographical writing, self examination, family intimacy, subject construction, otherness