Pearl S. Buck 소설의 복식에 나타난 사회적 정체성 연구

A Study on the Social Identity Described in the Dress of Pearl S. Buck′s Novels

This study was to analyze the social identity described in the dress of the American novelist Pearl S. Buck's (1892-1973) major works. A novelist pursues varying and refined expressions in an effort to convey to readers the character' identities of his or her own creation. In particular, Pearl S, Buck was a great writer who was awarded the Novel Literature Prize, and since her work The Good Earth recorded a world-wide bestseller, she might well be called a popular novelist. She depicted well her characters' identities from divers viewpoints with her unique delicacy and realistic expressions. For this study, the following seven works which are considered to feature the dresses for character's identity well were selected out of her 85 works: The Good Earth (1931), Sons(1932), The Mother (1934), A Housed Divided (1935), The Hidden Flower (1952), Love and the Morning Calm (1953) and Letter from Peking (1957). For an analytical tool, the content analysis method was used. In order to systematically review the social identity described in the dress individuals' identity were classified into the following categories based on the identity theories: Social identity were divided into ① age identity ② sex, gender identity ③ economic identity ④ occupational identity ⑤ political identity ⑥ religious identity ⑦ kinship identity ⑧ regional identity. The characters' age identity, sex, gender identity, economic identity, occupational identity, political identity, religious identity, kinship identity, regional identity were depicted by their dresses and physical features. All in all, it is hoped that this study would provided important cues to the understanding of the other party's identity through his or her dresses in mutual relationship: It is believed that this study would be useful because they are arranged through the analysis of the dresses featured in the great writer's works using a consistent framework of analysis.