Shaking ‘the Symbolic’ and ‘Radical Heteronomy’ of Existence:A Psycho-analytic Approach to Kkumkkuneun Marionette (Dreaming Marionette)

Abstract

Extramarital love affair has been one of the most controversial topics for Korean TV dramas for a long time. But the family system of Korean society Confucian values seems to be shaken to the core knowing that most viewers consider family is the most fundamental unit of this society and its problem directly translates to societal problems. In his book Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, Engels said, “If the marriage based on the love is moral, the marriage is moral only while the love is maintained.” (Engels 1972:94). It may be just a romantic view which did not fully grasp the complex relationship between the reality and the morality of ‘the Symbolic’, but its ethical implications cannot be denied. To be a family accompanies the glory and the misery at the same time. In Kafka’s Transformation, Gregor Samsa, the main character, was changed to an ugly bug and Kafka has shown that a human being is to remain alone. And this radical solitude can only be filled by “nothing.” The world is ‘the other’ and given as ‘heteronomy.’ In fact, Sartre said that to be born in the world of others is the radical sin. Romantic relationship between man and woman is an event that clearly shows human beings are social animals, and this concept manifests in and through radical heteronomy. In discussing this topic, one Korean author, Gwon Jiye, whose novels dealing with aforementioned concepts with her interpretations of extramarital love affair has provided a unique perspective on the current view of family system Korean society is facing.