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고유 명사의 의미에서 동사의 무의미로 -루이스 캐럴의 『앨리스』
From the Sense of Proper Noun to the Nonsense of Verb in Lewis Carroll`s Alice
한혜정 ( Hye Chung Han )
영미문학연구 vol. 5 83-106(24pages)
UCI I410-ECN-0102-2012-840-002883060

Lewis Carroll`s Alice`s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, have been regarded as the representative works of Nonsense Literature. In these texts, however, nonsense does not mean lack of meaning but limitless potential of meanings. This paper aims to examine the play of nonsense in two Alice books, which subvert the compulsive pursuit of unitary sense. The life and texts of Lewis Carroll, the pen-name of Victorian mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, exemplify the transition from the sense of a proper noun to the nonsense of a verb. Whereas a proper noun-that is, a name-represents the unique meaning of a subject, the verb, as nonsense, has the potential to change according to contexts. Dodgson, the proponent of logic and reason, becomes Carroll, the master of parody and fantasy. The rational Victorian society changes into the upside-down Wonderland and the reversed looking-glass world "where things have no names." The so-called normal communication based on good sense and common sense gives way to Carroll`s brilliant word-play such as pun, portmanteau word, and paradox. The numerous metamorphoses in these chaotic worlds lead Alice`s stable identity to be erased, making possible the verb-like subjectivity and meanings through the overflow of paradoxical nonsense. Alice`s ``adventures`` and ``findings`` show us the importance of living "backwards," not answering the interpellation of a unitary sense. In Alice, the multiple layers of meanings are affirmed instead of one proper meaning. What Carroll "earnestly" says is that we should practice to "take some more nonsense."

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