경계적 자아의 한 단면, 푸슈킨의 시 ｢바다에게｣

초록

In Pushkin’s poem “To the Sea”, the crossing of various boundaries functions as a principle of textual construction. The spatial opposition of sea and land semantically unfolds into a contrast between freedom and unfreedom; ontologically — into the opposition of nature and man; politically — into the opposition of freedom and despotism; and on the internal plane — into the coexistence of the romantic “I” and the “I” in reality. The poem is built upon the intersection of these boundaries. Furthermore, the boundary appears as a point of crisis and reflection, and “To the Sea” can be interpreted as the meditation of a lyrical “I” standing at the boundary. In this context, the image of the poet reflecting on the seashore resonates with the image of Byron, standing by the sea and entering into communion with it, and with the image of Napoleon on the island of Saint Helena, immersed in contemplation as he gazes at the sea. If one traces the origins of the boundary traits of the poetic “I,” they ultimately lead back to Pushkin’s own identity. Indeed, one of the most essential features of the poet’s personality is precisely his identity as a boundary person. Pushkin was a figure situated between mutually exclusive identities, belonging at once both to the center and to the periphery. The poem “To the Sea” may be called a work in which, during his exile, Pushkin reflected upon his identity as a boundary person and expressed it in poetic form; thus, it reveals one facet of his “self” as a man at the boundary.

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