[서울=뉴스핌] 김용석 기자 = 한강(54) 작가는 지난 10일(현지 시간) 스웨덴 스톡홀름 시청 블루홀에서 열린 제124회 노벨상 시상식 연회에서 수상 소감을 영어로 발표했다. 아시아 여성으로는 사상 처음으로 노벨 문학상을 받은 한강은 블루 카펫을 처음 밟은 한국인이 됐다.

한강 작가가 문학동네를 통해 보낸 우리말 원문을 싣는다.

(국문)
여덟 살 때의 어느 날을 기억합니다. 주산학원의 오후 수업을 마치고 나오자마자 소나기가 퍼붓기 시작했습니다. 맹렬한 기세여서, 이십여 명의 아이들이 현관 처마 아래 모여 서서 비가 그치길 기다렸습니다. 도로 맞은편에도 비슷한 건물이 있었는데, 마치 거울을 보는 듯 그 처마 아래에서도 수십 명의 사람들이 나오지 못하고 서 있는 모습이 보였습니다. 쏟아지는 빗발을 보며, 팔과 종아리를 적시는 습기를 느끼며 기다리던 찰나 갑자기 깨달았습니다. 나와 어깨를 맞대고 선 사람들과 건너편의 저 모든 사람들이 '나'로 살고 있다는 사실을. 내가 저 비를 보듯 저 사람들 하나하나가 비를 보고 있다. 내가 얼굴에 느끼는 습기를 저들도 감각하고 있다. 그건 수많은 일인칭들을 경험한 경이의 순간이었습니다.

돌아보면 제가 문학을 읽고 써온 모든 시간 동안 이 경이의 순간을 되풀이해 경험하고 있었던  것 같습니다. 언어라는 실을 통해 타인들의 폐부까지 흘러들어가 내면을 만나는 경험. 내 중요하고 절실한 질문들을 꺼내 그 실에 실어, 타인들을 향해 전류처럼 흘려 내보내는 경험.

어렸을 때부터 궁금했습니다. 우리는 왜 태어났는지. 왜 고통과 사랑이 존재하는지. 그것들은 수천 년 동안 문학이 던졌고, 지금도 던지고 있는 질문들입니다. 우리가 이 세계에 잠시 머무는 의미는 무엇일까요? 이 세계에서 우리가 끝끝내 인간으로 남는다는 건 얼마나 어려운 일일까요? 가장 어두운 밤에 우리의 본성에 대해 질문하는, 이 행성에 깃들인 사람들과 생명체들의 일인칭을 끈질기게 상상하는, 끝끝내 우리를 연결하는 언어를 다루는 문학에는 필연적으로 체온이 깃들어 있습니다. 그렇게 필연적으로, 문학을 읽고 쓰는 일은 생명을 파괴하는 행위들의 반대편에 서 있습니다. 폭력의 반대편인 이 자리에 함께 서 있는 여러분과 함께, 문학을 위한 이 상의 의미를 나누고 싶습니다. 감사합니다.

(영문)
I remember the day when I was eight years old. As I was leaving my afternoon abacus lesson, the skies opened in a sudden downpour. This rain was so fierce that two dozen children wound up huddled under the eaves of the building. Across the street was a similar building, and under those eaves I could see another small crowd—almost like looking into a mirror. Watching that streaming rain, the damp soaking my arms and calves, I suddenly understood. All these people standing with me, shoulder to shoulder, and all those people across the way—were living as an "I" in their own right. Each one was seeing this rain, just as I was. This damp on my face, they felt it as well. It was a moment of wonder, this experience of so many first-person perspectives.

Looking back over the time I have spent reading and writing, I have re-lived this moment of wonder, again and again. Following the thread of language into the depths of another heart, an encounter with another interior. Taking my most vital, and most urgent questions, trusting them to that thread, and sending them out to other selves.

Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to know. The reason we are born. The reason suffering and love exist. These questions have been asked by literature for thousands of years, and continue to be asked today. What is the meaning of our brief stay in this world? How difficult is it for us to remain human, come what may? In the darkest night, there is language that asks what we are made of, that insists on imagining into the first person perspectives of the people and living beings that inhabit this planet; language that connects us one another. Literature that deals in this language inevitably holds a kind of body heat. Just as inevitably, the work of reading and writing literature stands in opposition to all acts that destroy life. I would like to share the meaning of this award, which is for literature, with you—standing here in opposition to violence together. Thank you.

fineview@newspim.com