‘한국적 라이트노벨’에 대한 고찰－<미얄의 추천(鞦韆) 시리즈>를 중심으로－

Abstract

A light novel is a modern novel genre combining light reading with amusement. Based on the Japanese culture of Otaku, it has been vigorously commercialized with a multimedia strategy. Its popularity has spread to neighboring South Korea where the light novel has been actively translated into Korean and published in the Korean market. As it built a stable market in Korea, the Korean light novel began to be created. However, Korea is in a disadvantageous position for multimedia, which is one of the biggest features of the Japanese light novel, because Korea has a much smaller market for cartoons and animation than Japan. Moreover, in what direction do light novels created in Korea go when it is hard to expect an active mix of media promotion? Analysis of the light novel written in the reality of Korea leads naturally to endless discussions among readers over ‘what the Korean light novel is.’ To achieve the objective of this study, I analyzed the ‘Miyal’s Swing’ series, which have been referred to as ‘Korean light novels’ by some critics. One finding is that the series employs Korean themes from ‘Byeoljubujeon’ (a rabbit and turtle tale) and ‘Talchum’ (masked dance) and melt well in the stories. Not only do they use only Korean materials, but they are also written within the typical framework of the Japanese light novel, which results in a favorable acceptance by those readers who are used to that genre. Furthermore, the fact that the writers are Korean and thus can reflect Korean society in a story differentiates the Korean light novel from the Japanese version, while creating empathy in domestic readers at the same time. As the Korean light novel is hard to mix with other media, it emphasizes fun in the story itself more than the Japanese light novel does. To boost the elements of fun in the Korean light novel, active writers were invited from the Korean literary world’s different genres, including fantasy. The author of the ‘Miyal’s Swing’ series is also one who used to write well-acknowledged fantasy novels. The author’s writing style shows a great command of homonyms and words unique to Korea, which are the elements that maximize the charms of the medium-‘novel.’ In other words, I believe that the popularity of the series ‘Miyal’s Swing’ is based on the fact that Korean themes are well integrated into the stories, which are created in a different environment from Japan and show the direction which the domestic light novel can take; as a result, they are recognized as ‘Korean light novels.’