공지영의 소설 『우리들의 행복한 시간』에 나타난 자기대상과 자기회복 과정에 대한 연구 = A Study on Selfobjects and the Process of Self-Restoration in Gong Ji-oung’s Novel Our Happy Time

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study explores how individuals marginalized amid crises such as domestic violence, sexual violence, suicide, and self-harm in contemporary Korean society can discover the possibility of healing. Based on Heinz Kohut’s self psychology theory (1971, 1977, 1984), the study analyzes Gong Ji-young’s novel Our Happy Time. It assumes that literature can serve as a valuable medium for revealing the complexity of human psychology, and that the interaction between literature and psychology enables psychological insights beyond mere theoretical discussion. Kohut analyzed the impact of selfobject deficits on human identity and psychological disintegration through examples such as Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. In literature, the conflicts experienced by characters serve as tools to reflect unconscious desires and social alienation in real human life, and Kohut sought to explore the psychological depths of human existence through such literary analysis. Based on this perspective, the present study analyzes how the characters Yoonsu and Yujeong gradually restore their cohesive self through relationships with selfobjects. It also examines the process of transmuting internalization that transcends even death, made possible through the empathic selfobject experience with Sister Monica, who listens to the protagonists wholeheartedly. Furthermore, this study sympathizes with the efforts of clients who, despite living in unempathetic environments, strive for continuous growth, and expresses the researcher’s aspiration to accompany them with unconditional understanding as a counselor. It also proposes that counselors can act as selfobjects for each other, fostering mutual growth. Finally, this study briefly reviews previous literary analyses based on Kohut’s theory and discusses how an integrative approach between self psychology and literature may offer therapeutic possibilities.