보걸의 『내가 운전을 배운 방법』에 나타난 네거티브 감정이입과 젠더 이슈

Abstract

This paper examines Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive and its nuanced treatment of vexed social and gender issues such as child molestation and young female sexuality. Vogel incorporates historical and cultural references, drawing on a car fetish in the post-war American culture, the Lolita myth and pedophilic 60s music, which is part of the culture in which the characters inhabit. The intention behind Vogel’s dramaturgy is to evoke a sense of negative empathy. Negative empathy is an aesthetic response where there is resistance to empathy but that resistance is overcome due in part to contexts given to protagonists. This way, a character like Peck whose incestuous relationship with his young niece is condemned can be empathized with. Additionally, Vogel demonstrates the complex way young female sexuality is formed by portraying Li’l Bit’s breasts as both a site of sacredness and shame. Applying Vogel’s use of negative empathy to a critical analysis of the play, this paper shows negative empathy is key to understanding the playwright’s work.