關係 分析을 통해 본 「양반전」의 재해석－양반 批判에 대한 重層의 시선－

Abstract

「Yangbanjeon」 is known widely as a criticizing the yangban. Now when the yangban class has disappeared, the novel requires more careful analysis in order to: ① find the contemporary meanings of 「Yangbanjeon」; and ② sort out contradictory evaluations of the characters in the story. Thus, this study identified three frames in the skeleton of the work, which are the frame of characters including the county magistrate, the rich man, and the learned man, the frame of materials including deeds, wealth (seed grain loan), and social status, and the frame of desire including desire for wealth and desire for honor, and attempted a new interpretation of the work from the multi layered eyes of characters writer reader. In this work, author Park Ji-won is accusing yangban in his days of their insensitivity and incompetency in various ways. First of all, the rela- tionships between the county magistrate and deeds, between the learned man and social status, and between the rich man and wealth are used as means to disclose the defects of each character. In the course, the three persons show difference in their way of behavior. Through this, the writer criticizes problems related to power, honor, and wealth based on the nature of the ruling class. As the readers’ eye on desire for power, desire for honor, and desire for wealth gears into the contents of Yeonam(燕巖)’s accusation, 「Yangbanjeon」 goes further from disclosing yangban’s incom- petency and hypocrisy to reminding the readers of the naked face of today’s ruling class. The readers’ thought of the ruling class may vary depending on their individual situation, and the resultant process of association is also different, and for this reason, the same characters have been evaluated both positively and negatively. Through this analysis, we can reconfirm the timeless value of 「Yangbanjeon」 and illuminate its status in the history of literature.