<최고운전>의 탄생모티프 연구

Abstract

In this paper the symbol system and a narrative feature of the birth motif of <Choigounjeon> were analyzed from the perspective of the hero novel. A critical point of view was raised against the existing research that the theme of novel be interpreted as the tragic life of Choichiwon. In the birth motif of <Choigounjeon>, the underground cave is the living place of the gold-pig. That place is the holy land of the inherent transcendental order and is equivalent to Choichung’s wife. Choichung succeeds the sanctity of the gold-pig and symbolize transcendental order. These correspond to the Lord of Heaven-Hwanwung or cave-Wungnye in Dangunsinhwa. the protagonist’s biological birth and cognitive birth appears to be multi-layered at initiation. Choichiwon’s biological birth is achieved through separation from the secular space for Choichung’s couple, sacred space travel of the underground cave and integration into the secular world. Next, the cognitive birth as a writer is achieved through protagonist’s separation from secular parents and integration into the sacred space. The initiation of entire narrative is of the type that Choichiwon be separated from the ground world and re-integrated into the heavenly world. The protagonist confronts with the whole world with value of ‘nation’s writer’. He becomes a winner in the course of that confrontation. The range of his activity is national and collective, and thus he represented the hero of the community. The protagonist’s final stage to hermit is that Choichiwon’s life as a cultural hero was completed by re-integration into transcendental order from which he himself was separated.