1920년대 민담의 동화화(童話化)와 심의린의 『조선동화대집』

Abstract

The Collection of Chosun Fairy Tales, which was published by Sim Eui-rin in 1926, is the first collection of traditional fairy tales in Korea. It includes 83 episodes in total. These episodes can be categorized into four types of stories: humorous tales, supernatural tales, animal tales and ordinary tales. Of these, there are 41 humorous tales and 27 supernatural tales, which represents the majority of the book. The humorous tales include many episodes that take a satirical view of foolish behavior. Many stories have the message that one needs to keep an eye on greed and to emphasize good behavior, brotherly love, and there payment of kindness. There are 12 animal tales, most of which make fun of ferocious strong men but extol the wisdom of weaker people. There are 3 ordinary tales, all of which emphasize filial piety. Sim Eui-rin perceived the traits and benefits of Korean fairy tales as literature, and was the first to collect and arrange them to utilize in an educational sense. Sim Eui-rin, a teacher and researcher on Korean, should be highly regarded for collecting folktales for children and adapting them as fairy tales, as this helped to cultivate a national spirit in children and promote education. In particular, when compared with the Fairy Tales of Chosun and the Chosun Fairy Tales published by the Japanese, the Collection of Chosun Fairy Tales has advantages in terms of the subject matter, the richness of the storytelling, and the healthy emotions represented.