다시 읽는 남부 노예제 사회: 에드워드 존스의 『알려진 세계』

Abstract

The Known World by Edward P. Jones revisits the antebellum southern society and shows the so-called ‘known world’ of that slavery society does not reveal its true aspects. This paper aims to investigate how Jones discloses what is hidden, ignored, or unknown about ‘the known world’ and reconstructs an undistorted picture of southern slavery society. Jones creates a web of micro-narratives involving a diverse set of individuals in Manchester County, Virginia, whose fragmented stories reveal the destructive influences of the slavery system on individuals regardless of race, class, or gender. The narratives of white people show how the institution of slavery drives them into self-contradiction and distorts their sense of morality. The narratives of black slaveowners articulate their selfish desire for security, which leads them to conspire with the master narrative against their people. In rereading the antebellum southern slavery society, Jones not only criticizes the destructive power of slavery but presents the disruption of the ‘known world’ through the narrative of a runaway female slave, whose tapestries reconstruct the Townsend plantation from the viewpoint of slaves, and envision a totally different space free from the master narrative.