에도(江戸)시대 ‘돌팔이의사(薮医者)’의 이미지 형상화 과정에 대한 고찰

Abstract

This thesis examines the process of forming the image of the quack doctor of the modern Japanese period, focusing on the historical background and various social and cultural phenomena surrounding the ‘medicine’ and ‘doctor’ at that time. Especially, this thesis analyzed the process of formalization and settlement in literary works and their characteristics. In the Edo period, various words meaning “quack doctors” occurred, and the character the “quack doctors” and the episodes surrounding them were attracting attention and spotlights as narrative material in literary works. These social backgrounds can be attributed to the negative factors surrounding doctors such as lack of basic medical knowledge, physicians’ perceptions and attitudes about medical care, academic achievement, and the unscientific nature of oriental medicine itself. Since the early Edo period, the ‘quack doctor’ has appeared in many genres of works as a subject of literary works and has been making unique characters. In modern times, when the level of medical care was significantly lower than in the present, the death of patients were often more dependent on luck than the ability of doctors. In that sense, most of the modern doctors can be called quack doctors, and in the novels, they are often depicted as objects of satire representing the contemporary period.