A Rhetorical Research on Choi Myeong‐ik’s Novels

From the viewpoint of rhetoric as a communication strategy, this study examined difference in rhetorical strategies observed in Choi Myeong‐ik’s early work A Rainy Road and another work Jangsamisa, which shows the signs of change from his early works, and discussed the world of his literary works. Taking note of the basic characteristics of the novel genre, we divided the sub‐strategies of rhetoric viewpoint into the rhetoric of narration, rhetoric of structure, and rhetoric of value, and analyzed the two novels based on them. A Rainy Road uses the rhetoric of dual narration distinguishing between the narrator and the focalizer, the rhetoric of structure foregrounding the juxtaposition and confrontation of characters, and the rhetoric of value raising the ethical voice of the self isolated from the world. As a result, although the self with strong self‐consciousness has the desire to step forward as a subject, it returns to its own world of self‐consciousness where the self is rather objectified from the world and abandons its will to communicate with the world. Jangsamisa uses the rhetoric of narration in which the self assumes the attitude of an onlooker yet steps forward as an observer who looks at the world as a subject, the rhetoric of structure accumulating meanings through repeating tension and relaxation, and the rhetoric of value in which the logos consciousness of the self works, recognizing and criticizing problems in the world. As a result, although the self is an observer it is described in a changed image that looks at the world outside of itself and recognizes problems in the world critically. Of course, the self in Jangsamisa is not so active in communication with the world either. At least, however, it is aware of problems in the world and look at them critically. This suggests that the self of Choi Myeong‐ik’s novels expanded its potential for sympathetic communication with the world.