현대 미국 시에서 언어와 존재의 문제

Problems of the Language and Being in Modern American Poetry: W. C. Williams' and E. E. Cumming's Case

This article consists of four parts. The first part is a brief introduction to how Heidegger's hermeneutics can manage textual understanding and interpretation. He says that it is in language that things first come into being and are. In the second part I examine W. C. Williams' two poems: “Young Sycamore” and “The Thing.” In “Young Sycamore” Williams' own formulation of the idea of language and Being is that the word for saying is the word for Being, or for the presence of Being. Things overlap with the poet's mind in “Young Sycamore.” On the other hand William discloses a renewed orientation toward language. His renewed formulation is that man is a servant of language. Man's position as a servant of language brings about a change in the aspect of man's experience with language. In “The Thing” Williams attempt to reveal what it means to undergo an experience with language. In the third part I examine E. E. Cummings' “l (a).” “l (a)” implies that language may become soiled or corrupted. Then it will no longer affirm Being as reality, but hide it. Language fails Cummings. The failure of language, however, means necessarily a failure of his power to open up Being to view. He destroys words and performs an experiment with the visual shape in which a letter composition is presented on the page. Unexpected Being emerges through his letter composition. The fourth part is the conclusion. I examine briefly how Heidegger's hermeneutics was introduced into the American literary world.