바이런과 이슬람: “동양의 이야기” 연구, 지배담론의 신화와 딜레마

Byron and Islam: A Study of Oriental Tales, Myth and Dilemma of Dominant Discourse ―Focusing on The Corsair and Lara

This article tries to analyse Byron’s unique position in dominant discourse, focusing on his “Oriental Tales” such as The Corsair and Lara. A discourse is considered to be a formalized way of thinking that can be manifested through language, a social boundary defining what can be said about a specific topic. Discourse is closely linked to different theories of power and state, at least as long as defining discourses is seen to mean defining reality itself. In this case, Orientalism is underpinned by the material basis of imperial exploitation and exercise of power. In The Corsair, corsair means the Barbary pirates of north Africa. It is sometimes called “Turkish corsairs.” Conrad in The Corsair and Lara in Lara who are double act of questioning the validity of the two opposing discourses, two poems that have courted controversy among critics and readers alike. “Oriental Tales” can be seen positively as they express their own discourse. Byron created his own “Oriental Tales,” in which the subjugation of the country we now know as West and East in portrayed in the context two warring monotheistic religions. Both Islam and Christianity, the East and the West, the Orientalism and the Occidentalism, are portrayed with equal distaste, as instruments of personal, political and imperialist control over individuals. Gulnare and Kaled are the fought over focus of the eternal triangle situated between a Turkish tyrant and debased would-be Western liberator.