기장군 설화의 장소 인식 연구

Abstract

Cultural characteristics of a region are affected by complex elements, natural environment and human environment. This study paid attention to the Gijang people’s awareness about place, shown in the folktales, passed down orally, as compared to literature record. The results are summarized as follows: First, Gijang is adjacent to the mountains and seas, so it has benefited from the abundance of nature, but at the same time, it has suffered from difficulties due to the lack of accessibility or natural disaster, etc. However, the people of Gijang have attached active significance to geographical characteristics and have not forgotten the efforts of reaction and coexistence. Second, to examine the folktales that dealt with the idea of Fengshui, the people of Gijang have not forgotten the fact that a good land to live in is not the form of geographic features but the formation of a complementary relationship between nature and men. Third, it was noted that in spite of insufficient cultural conditions and unjust external glance, they do not lose the pride of the region and actively practice and emphasize ethics. Fourth, Buddhist temples in the Gijang area function as religious spaces that resolve real pains of the locals and at the same time, play an important role in supporting the identity and pride of the ‘place’ of Gijang. Gijang has insufficient bibliographical data remaining as opposed to its history, and the contents described in the materials, too, often, do not reflect the true appearance of the region, properly, e.g. They are fragmentary or include one-sided prejudice. The essence of a place exists in the internal experience with emotional solidarity, instead of the outside. The characteristics of the place of Gijang we should find should be a living ‘place’ of life, not space as a hardened background.