메타픽션과 독자 참여: 커트 보네것의 『제5도살장』과 수잔 최의 『신뢰 연습』을 중심으로

Abstract

In metafiction, the author’s interference is the biggest feature that is capable of making readers face an uncomfortable reality through fiction. For this purpose, the author puts himself/herself forward and uses unconventional narrative techniques. The author’s uncomfortable intervention is to make readers recognize the gap between fiction and reality, intentionally disrupting readers’ focus on the novel. In this process, readers can perceive the unrealistic reality, not explicitly exhibited in reality, leading them to be more interested in social issues. In this study, the techniques Kurt Vonnegut and Susan Choi used in their works are analyzed. First, in Slaughterhouse-Five, the techniques Vonnegut uses are teleportation in time and space, the author’s role as a character and the narrator of the novel, and repetitive phrases. These metafictional techniques make readers look at the reality objectively and realize the brutal reality of war. In this work, Vonnegut leads readers to denounce war and pursue peace. In Trust Exercise, Choi uses a modified frame narrative structure, authorial interference, and features of drama to make readers recognize the imbalance of power in a relationship. Choi focuses on the situation of women with three female protagonists making readers pursue truth following scattered clues. Through this process, Choi urges readers to participate in finding a solution to the imbalance of power in society. Using these various metafiction techniques, the authors successfully intervene in their readers’ process of reading and can lead them to participate in changing society for the future.