<설홍전>에 나타난 변신의 한 양상과그 의미

Abstract

<Seolhongjeon> is one of the heroic novels in late Choseon Dynasty but has not paid much attention to the study of classical heroic novels so far in spite of its significance. In the necessity to redefine the position of this novel, this paper researched about characteristics of the metamorphosis and its literary significance in <Seolhongjeon>. This study can be summarized as follows. There are two types of metamorphosis in this novel, Talgab and Dungab. Talgab is a type of metamorphosis regardless of the subject’s will and Dungab is another type of metamorphosis by the subject’s will. These two have characteristics with being associated with personal conflicts and social conflicts. Talgab happens twice in the text. The first one has features such as ‘metamorphosis in real world by realistic being(stepmother)’, ‘change cultural human into cultural animal’, ‘conflicts between self-gaze(recognizing the protagonist himself as a human) and the other’s gaze(recognizing the protagonist as an animal)’. The second one has features such as ‘metamorphosis in unreal world by unrealistic being(old man)’, ‘change cultural animal into cultural human’, ‘harmony between self-gaze and the other’s gaze’. In these two steps, this novel reveals the meaning of its social and cultural history such as ‘lost and recovery of the protagonist’s heroic status and ability’, ‘reflection of the atrocities and corruption of the human being’, ‘A fundamental denial of nobility and a warning to the civil class’ etc. On the other hand, Dungab is found from both the protagonist and the antagonist. The stronger the intensity of the conflict between two, the stronger the strength of the Dungab can be seen as well. These Dungab tend to put back real social problems such as ‘Conflict between the master and the novice’, ‘conflict with the people who try to transform the system’, ‘conflict with other countries aiming at conquering the state’. Rather, it is presented only as a device to highlight the protagonist’s heroic work. However, it has the meaning of its social and cultural history such as ‘the desire for transcendence by revealing the latent desires’, ‘the destruction of everyday life and wishes to get out of everyday life’, ‘maximizing fantasy’, ‘impulse for playfulness and increasing of novelistic fun’, etc. Metamorphosis in <Seolhongjeon> are meaningful as a foundation work to reveal aspects of metamorphosis in the history of narrative literature and as a material to reveal the dual meanings of positivity and negativity about metamorphosis although it is only partial in this novel.